We are the Golden Trio!
by Oracle2Phoenix
Summary: Rose is just born and Al is due. But after finding an ancient mirror, Harry, Ron, Hermione and baby Rose are sent back into their 11-year-old bodies the night before they first met. Trapped in the past and wary of the Wizarding World, they seek to kill Voldemort as soon as possible. Together Harry, Ron and Hermione shall show the past who the Golden Trio really are.
1. The Mirror of Emit

I should say that I have other stories that I'm working on and this will not be the priority of them. But i will endeavour to try and update regularly.

This is my time travel fic. I don't know how long it's going to be, i have a few ideas but it'll either be about Half a dozen chapters or an unknown number more. As always i hope you like it and reviews would be nice.**  
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><p><strong>We are the Golden Trio<strong>

Chapter 1: The Mirror of Emit

26-year-old Deputy-Head Auror Harry Potter was sitting at his desk in the Potter residence. He was going over Auror Office paperwork when Ron Weasley's Jack Russell Terrier patronus arrived.

"_Harry I've got something important to show you, can you get yourself to the office as quick as you can?"_

Harry looked at the clock; it was just after one in the afternoon. He sent his own stag patronus to Ginny telling her he had to go in to work and not to be surprised if he wasn't at home when she got back from the Burrow. Walk out of the study, grabbed his clock and approached the fire place.

He grabbed a handful of floo powder and called out "Ministry of Magic" and disappeared in a flash of green flame.

Harry reappeared in the Atrium of the Ministry and proceeded to the Auror Offices. When he got there he got a surprise.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" he asked pleasantly, very pleased to see his sister-in-law.

Hermione Weasley had given birth to a baby Girl just 5 days earlier. A red-faced 5-day-old Rose Ginevra Weasley was snoozing in her mothers arms and being lovingly ogled by over half the law office.

"Harry." She said happily she strode over to him and gave him a one armed hug "What a pleasant surprise."

"Hey Rosie how are you still keeping mummy and daddy awake?"

"I actually got her to calm down a bit last night, Ron and I got a grand total of 6 hours sleep!"

"Six hours? When James was born we didn't get that much sleep until he was 4 months old. Rosie you are an angel, obviously you don't have the disruptive Weasley genes your cousin has."

Hermione smiled "Has the freckles though. Why are you here Harry?"

"Ron actually, he said he had something important to show me."

"Oh I'll come with you. Rose time to go meet Daddy." Rose actually seemed to react to that statement; it might have been Harry's imagination, nut Rose's mouth seemed to twitch upward ever so slightly in her sleep.

They went into Harry's office; Harry told Ron he could always use it while he was out of the office.

Ron greeted his wife and brother-in-law "Hey Harry, Hey love why are you here?"

"Rosie and I thought it might be an idea to visit the office and see where Mummy, Daddy and Uncle Harry work." Said Hermione "Whatever you've got to do isn't dangerous is it?"

"I doubt it, I didn't mean for you to come so quickly Harry, although to be honest I should have said no immediate rush but since you're here."

Ron held up a semi-circular mirror with a jagged edge along the straight sided indicating it was only one half of a mirror. A part Harry knew where to find.

"Where did you get that?"

"I was conducting a search of Mundungus Fletcher's place and found this along with several other interesting items, he claims it was his mothers but the Patil twins are questioning him now, he'll soon tell us where he got it."

Harry had found the first half of the mirror when he and Ron raided a hideout where Death Eater Thorfinn Rowle was hiding. They determined that it wasn't flowing with dark magic but that it was trying to summon something towards it; the logical guess would be the other half of the mirror.

Harry smiled "Well since I'm here now we might try taking the two pieces to the test area to see what happens, after we finish introducing my niece to the ministry of course."

Ron smiled and approached the secure cupboard "I'll just leave it in here then."

"WAIT RON DON'T…" but it was too late. Ron opened the cupboard where the other half of the mirror was locked. As Harry feared they were summoned to each other.

Three of the four pairs of eye, the fourth still being asleep, focused on the now complete mirror. That floated itself into the centre of the room. Now pieces together it was now an oval shaped mirror, the kind one might nail to the back of a door. As it floated upright in the middle of the room it rotated. Then a silver coloured frame emerged around the top of the mirror with an inscription: _Emit ni ogl lah su oyer ehw tube rau oye rehw ton wohsi._

The Golden Trio looked each other into the eyes, each recognizing the worry and concern behind them, a skill they'd achieved after years of experience.

The Mirror began rotating faster, there was a yellow flash followed by a second, then another and then another, each time getting faster.

The next thing Harry new he was standing in a child's bedroom, the mirror spinning just in front of him. It began to slow down, and then it dropped. Harry only just managed to catch it and place it on the bed when he heard the soft hooting of an owl.

Harry turned to the noise. All of a sudden, as he saw the source, his heart clenched and his eyes began to water. It had been over 9 years but he had never… ever… forgotten.

"Hedwig?"

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><p>Hope you like it so far, and in future for that matter. Please review!<p> 


	2. Where we meet again

**We are the Golden Trio**

Chapter 2: Where we meet again

"Hedwig?" croaked Harry through his tears.

The snowy owl blinked at Harry, unsure why here new master was so weepy all of a sudden.

"But you died." She merely stared at Harry with a level of mild interest. "You were killed 9 years ago, in the sky battle above Privet Drive." Harry stopped himself for he now took several things into account.

The fact that it was night time when moments ago it was midday. The fact that he was less than half the height he was when he last woke up. The fact that this child's bedroom once was his childhood bedroom.

Harry was in his old bedroom at the Dursley's, number 4, Privet Drive.

But that was not possible for two reasons. Firstly the Dursley's and Harry had agreed mutually never to see each other ever again. Secondly after the evacuation the house had been burnt down. Yet here Harry was standing in a pair of Dudley's old Pyjamas at the age of eleven.

"_Eleven-years-old?_"_ thought Harry _"_Crap!_" he then looked at his calendar.

'September 1991' there was no doubt now, Harry had materialized back in time to the night just before he left for Hogwarts the first time.

The night before he first met Ron, Hermione and so many other people he cared about.

"_Would they even remember him, had they to gone back in time?_" Harry honestly didn't know what to do. He remember what Hermione had told him about meddling with time but, Harry new he couldn't just ignore 15 years of everything he new. All those lives he could save, all that wasted time ignoring Ginny.

"_First things first._" Thought Harry "_Find out if Ron and Hermione know._" If they didn't Harry was left with two choices, try and get back to the present or face the consequences of changing time. Because there was no way in hell Harry was going to make any of the incredibly stupid mistakes he'd made growing up.

"_I hope Ron and Hermione remember me, otherwise we'll have to start all over again._"

Harry placed the mirror in one of his old jumpers to keep it from breaking inside his trunk. He thought about adding an unbreakable charm but decided against it because he didn't know how the charm would interact with the mirrors magic.

It was now 11 o'clock at night. With lack of anything better to do Harry went to bed, he had no idea how he could let Ron and Hermione know that he knew the future without accidentally informing an ignorant of the future Ron and Hermione. The Consequences of his actions had to either confirm that the Golden trio had gone back in time or confirm that he was alone in the past.

Harry drifted off to sleep after a while.

When he woke up to get dressed he was suddenly hit with an idea. He could put on his Hogwarts robes before he went to Kings Cross, everyone in their year remembered that Hermione was the only person to do that and if Harry did it to, someone who was there the first time round would notice the difference.

"Come on boy we have to get going." Roared Uncle Vernon from downstairs

Harry merely dragged his trunk and carried Hedwig downstairs.

"What the hell are you wearing boy?"

"Robes." Answered Harry.

"Why are you wearing those now?"

"Because I'm going to school."

Harry didn't care if he was being more arrogant towards the Dursley's this time round. As far as he was concerned they were not his real family.

"Can we go now, I'm sure none of really want to delay our parting of ways?" said Harry.

That stopped the awkward questions. So the Dursley's took Harry to Kings Cross station, where Vernon wheeled Harry's trolley into the station.

"Well there you are platform 9, platform 10 your…"

"Yeah, yeah I know where it is, bye!" said Harry and he wheeled his trolley to platform 9¾ the clock said he had 15 minutes before the train left, which meant 5 minutes before the Weasley's arrived. He ignored the strange glances he got from people regarding Hedwig while he waited near the barrier, and then… "Packed with Muggles of course!" Harry heard the voice of his Mother-in-law.

Keeping with the original timeframe, Harry watched Mrs Weasley direct her offspring through the barrier. After Fred and George passed through the barrier Harry approached his future mother in-law. Just like last time she kindly instructed him what to do. Also just like last time Harry was nervous, this time though was because he was around an eleven-year-old version of his best friend and a ten-year-old version of his wife.

During the exchange neither Ginny nor Molly Weasley showed any indication of recognising Harry but Ron from Ron's obvious expression it was clear he realised who he was. During their brief glance at one another Harry nodded at Ron and he nodded back. Ron remembered.

Harry made his way straight to the same compartment as he did the first time round. This time round he used his wand to secure his trunk instead of waiting for the Weasley twins to give him a hand. He sat down and waited for Ron and hopefully Hermione to arrive.

That hope was soon answered as Hermione suddenly came along the corridor with a rucksack on her back and her trunk dragged along with her left hand while she was holding her right arm up in a strange fashion that Harry couldn't understand.

"Harry," She said almost frantically "please tell me you remember the next 15 years?"

"I do Hermione Weasley!" said Harry smiling in relief.

Hermione also sighed in relief but she looked more stressed at that point than she did when they took their O.W.L's.

"Harry I need to go hug Mum and Dad goodbye please take this off me?" She dropped her trunk in the middle of the floor, and placed the rucksack on the seat next to Harry, then took out her wand and pointed it at her oddly positioned arm.

Harry raised an eyebrow at peculiar position of Hermione's arms, then he gasped at what that shape reminded him of… "_Surely not!_"

"Finite Incantatem!" she said and sure enough, right before his eyes, the niece of Harry James Potter appeared in the gap between Hermione's arms, once again sound asleep.

"Please!" begged Hermione

Harry was shocked beyond all belief, but the boy-who-lived drew on years of experience and shrugged it off.

"Go!" he said taking Rose in his arms. He hurriedly drew his own wand and put up his own disillusionment charm.

Hermione left to go say goodbye to her parents.

Harry couldn't believe it, baby Rose was here, and her Mummy and Daddy were 11-year-old virgins. He took a peek in her rucksack, which had obviously been turned into a baby bag. There was obviously a newly bought packet of Nappies and also two bottles of what must be powdered milk. With a wave of his wand Hermione's trunk ended up on the luggage rack next to his.

Harry sat there for awhile keeping an eye on his sleeping niece. The fact that she was sleeping now, in his experience, unfortunately meant that there was a good chance Hermione would have been kept up all night.

Right now Harry felt really concerned about her, to his personal shame, it didn't occur to him that Rose might come back in time with Hermione.

A couple of minutes after Hermione left Ron came in.

"Harry, what on Earth is going on? How come we're back in time?"

"I don't know, but before we talk of anything else I should tell you." Harry waved his wand and Ron's trunk took its place on the rack "Sit down" he said indicating the seat opposite him "Hermione was in here a second ago and she just gave me Rose. She's in my arms under my disillusionment charm."

Ron's jaw dropped "My baby."

"We have to keep her hidden for now, at least until we can figure out what to do."

Ron merely nodded and stared at the apparent gap in between Harry's arms.

A whistle was made to signal the Train was about to leave and Hermione returned to the compartment, shutting the door behind her.

"Ron!" she said "Rose?"

"It's ok Hermione I've still got her." Said Harry indicating the apparent gap.

"OH RON!" Hermione burst into tears and ran into her husbands arms crying.

Ron held his wife next to him. Harry really felt bad for the pair of them, it was stressful enough going back to when you were 11 but it was agonisingly so to go back with your 5-day-old daughter.

Harry had a sudden thought and pointed his wand at the door and set up some privacy wards. Now not only could they talk but they could take of the disillusionment charm on his beautiful baby niece.

"Good thinking mate." Said Ron He kept both his arms firmly held his wife as he guided her into the seat next to him.

Harry looked at Hermione her eyes were completely bloodshot and tears were still leaking out of them.

"Hermione did you get any sleep at all last night?" asked Harry

"No." croaked Hermione "When I got to this time frame I was lying in bed in my nightie, I realised where and when I was just in time because Rose woke up crying after a few minutes and I managed to put up silencing charms to keep her from waking Mum and Dad but she filled her Nappy and I didn't have any replacements so I scourgified her but then she was hungry and I tried to breastfeed her then I realised that I was 11-years-old and I don't have Breasts so I had to get changed to go and get her some formula but I couldn't take her with me so I had to leave her while I apparate to a 24-hour supermarket and I had to confound three shop assistants and a security guard to avoid awkward questions. I was gone for ten minutes to get nappies, milk and formula and I left my baby girl crying all that time and I'm a bad mother."

She wailed out a lot more, and then Rose woke up and started crying. She filled her Nappy and was disturbed to find her loving and significantly smaller mother crying on her significantly smaller father while she lay in the arms of her significantly smaller uncle.

"Oh Rose please!" wailed a very distressed Hermione

"Hermione calm down, Harry and I will take care of Rosie. You need to rest."

Rose finished filling her nappy so Ron took his daughter and laid her down on a compartment seat and, while he 'attended' to her Harry took charge of his honorary sister.

"Hermione you need to take a nap, I can tell you haven't slept since we separated." Harry conjured a nice fluffy pillow and a rug. Get a few hours kip, I'll look after Rose and Ron. You're not a bad Mum, given what you've gone through you're probably the best mum in the world right now."

"Oh Harry!" Hermione pulled her honorary brother into a hug.

Harry quickly returned it then propped the pillow on the edge of the compartment seat and guided Hermione down "Sleep!" he ordered. Despite the smell and noise coming from Rose Hermione was out the second her head touched the pillow she was out.

Harry smiled, Ginny was much the same after James was born. Thoughts of Ginny quickly made him frown, she was due with their second child in a few days. On the platform she didn't even know him. Not that it was her fault, because the twins didn't help with his luggage this time round they didn't even brag about having seen the Harry Potter. On the plus side though since no one outside the Golden Trio new that he was on the train, which meant no unwanted visit from Malfoy.

Rose was no longer crying, Ron had changed her Nappy and vanished the used one. Rose was now alternating between playing with her Daddy's finger and his nose.

After some time Ron looked up at Harry, he had a longing look plastered over his face, he was staring at father and daughter. Ron made a sad smile at his best friend. He knew that Harry's separation from Ginny, James and the impending child 2 had greatly concerned his friend.

"Mate, don't worry we'll talk about this when Hermione's better alright?"

Harry forced a smile "Yeah, I just wish she was here, with James and…"

"Whatever his or her name is." Finished Ron

"You know we've actually decided on the name." said Harry

"Oh?" said Ron clearly wanting to know

"Like with James if it's a girl we'll go with Lily Luna."

Ron smiled

"If it's a boy though… we decided we'd go for Albus Severus."

Ron was surprised for a second then smiled. "I forgot about them. They'll still be alive as well."

Harry looked puzzled then he remembered "Fred! Ron I…"

"It's alright mate, it was hard at first, especially when they teased me this morning."

"Why'd they tease you?"

"Merlin knows but I was so pleased to see them I nearly cried."

"Fred, Dumbledore, Snape they're not the only ones." Said Harry "Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Dobby…" Harry stopped himself. "Ron, Scabbers?"

Ron looked down, "I noticed him when I woke up actually. I know what he did to you and to Sirius but I couldn't bring myself to… I left him at home. Mum'll probably send me a howler for forgetting but I know how to do a silencing charm now so…"

"Ron after everything we seen I don't want to kill the traitor, not after what you and I saw anyway."

The boys looked down, both of them were still haunted by the image of Wormtail being strangled by the hand his master had blessed him with.

"We can't just ignore him Harry."

"I know, we need to talk about this, either we get back to the present or we stay and change the future, I'm not going to allow so many mistakes to happen again."

"Me neither. But let's wait until Hermione's rested before we talk about it anymore, she's the brain amongst us."

Harry chuckled "If she's the brains what am I?"

"The leader, the source of courage for lack of a better word: you're the guts."

"So Hermione's the Brain, I'm the guts, that makes you the heart!"

Ron smiled at that "Yeah I guess I'm the heart."

"So what does that make Rose then?"

"Well we've always been the Golden Trio but four is not a trio." said Ron thoughtfully "Besides I don't want to put my daughter in danger."

"Fair point. Is that the Trolley coming?" said Harry They heard a rolling noise approach.

"Should we get anything?" asked Ron

"Yeah! We can feed your wife to when she wakes up. Hide Rose and I'll drop the wards."

With Rose invisible and under a silencing charm, Harry dropped the privacy wards.

The Trolley lady approached about a minute later "Anything off the Trolley?"

"Yeah!" Harry proceeded to get them an assortment of sweets and snacks as well as some Pumpkin Juice.

"Is you friend alright?" asked the Trolley lady. She looked at Hermione in concern. Having missed out on sleep Hermione looked very pale.

"She'll be fine." Said Harry "Apparently her baby sister kept her house up all night so I told her to have a nap."

The Trolley lady smiled, "it's nice to know she has such caring friends, if she wants something off the trolley later I'll be ahead near the driver."

"Thanks though I think we have enough for the three of us." Smiled Harry

The Trolley lady smiled back and then departed. The wards went back up and Ron removed the silencing and disillusionment charm he placed on Rose to discover she was upset about being ignored.

"Sorry Rosie." Said Ron he started rocking his baby back and forth while telling her she was "gorgeous" and pretty soon she was appeased. They gave Hermione a few hours nap, when she woke up they Golden trio had a late lunch consisting of sweets, cakes and pastries while Rose had a bottle of formula milk.

They then began discussing what happened they last met.

"I managed to catch the mirror before it fell on the floor though, it's in my trunk." Said Harry and he retrieved it from the rack.

The trio then began examining it. Particularly the inscription: "_Emit ni ogl lah su oyer ehw tube rau oye rehw ton wohsi._" Said Ron "What is that? Gobbledegook?

"I've had a thought or two on that." Said Harry "The words are very similar to the inscription around the Mirror of Erised. Where the inscription was written in reverse. I think this is the same."

Hermione looked at the inscription "I think you're right Harry: I… show… not… where… you… are… but… where… you… go… in… time… I guess that makes this the Mirror of Emit!"

"That's all very well Hermione but does it allow a return trip?" asked Ron

"How should I know? There might be a book in the restricted section; I seem to recall a book that may have had the information we'd need. But I can't remember what it was called."

"Well we're on the train to Hogwarts anyway so let's just wait till we get there." Said Ron as he burped Rose.

"Why wait?" said Harry "We simply leave our stuff here and take advantage of the fact that the castle is largely empty for a few hours, sneak in and look in the restricted section."

Hermione look like she was about to argue, after all those years as the star pupil rule breaking still made Hermione automatically react uneasily. But Harry and Ron had managed to corrupt her somewhat over the years "I agree Harry if we get caught with Rose I'd rather not have a few hundred kids around while we explain ourselves."

Ron smiled "Hermione agreeing to break school rules. I guess that just shows how serious the situation is." Said Ron "Let go."

Whatever they didn't need to bring they left in their trunks. They put the Mirror of Emit in the rucksack along with Rose's baby things.

"I'll meet you behind Honeydukes it'll be best if we use the passage to sneak in and it'll be easier to get into the shop disillusioned through the back where no one will notice doors opening and closing on the own." Said Harry

Ron and Hermione nodded and the three of them disapparated.

Upon checking that nobody could see them Hermione performed the disillusionment charm on all of them. It was her own variant of the charm that allowed the four of them to see each other but no one else could see them unless the charm was deactivated.

"Let go!" said Harry, he eased open the back door and then, upon seeing no one was there led the others to the Honeydukes basement. Once he found the trapdoor Harry and Ron went in first, then Ron took Rose so Hermione could climb down.

"How long is this passage Harry?" asked Hermione

"Fairly long but we should be their in 10 minutes or so. Although when I first took this passage I had longer legs."

"Bet you were also excited at the thought of buying sweets!" said Ron

"That too. I can't believe I wasn't allowed out in third year."

"For what it's worth Harry if we do have to repeat this timeline I'm not going to stop you using this passage if it comes down to that." Said Hermione

Harry smiled and Ron put an arm around Hermione and kissed her. "Nice to know we've corrupted you." Chuckled Ron

"In fairness Ron I think she's corrupted you far more than you have her." Said Harry and this time Hermione laughed.

Eventually they reached the one eyed with passage "lets hope that no ones on the other side." Said Harry "Pity your brothers still have the map."

Wands were drawn, Harry and Ron went through first followed by Hermione and Rose. They quickly sealed the passage resulting in an audible boom.

"What's that?" Came the voice the trio of troublemakers recognised as the Hogwarts caretaker.

He was came trotting round a corner and, utilising many years of practice, Harry, Ron and Hermione stealthily sped away from him.

Once they'd lost Filch they made there way to the library. Again Harry eased the door open and peered inside. No one was immediately visible but the library was so huge that anyone could easily be hidden.

"Homenum Revelio." Cast Harry. Nothing, apparently Madam Pince was absent.

They entered the library and Hermione took charge "Right Ron I'm going to need both my hands for this so you take Rose and keep her occupied, Harry watch the door."

"Yes mam!" said the boys, while Harry was ordinarily the leader this was clearly a unique situation that put Hermione in charge, just like a giant chess set put Ron in charge.

They made their way into the restricted section. Harry stood guard by the door with Ron holding onto his daughter while Hermione went looking for a book that might tell them what they're doing.

Several minutes passed before Ron spoke to Harry "So what made you choose Albus Severus Harry?" asked Ron

Harry looked at Ron in thought for a second before answering. "I'm not saying that they were perfect or anything but considering all they did for me whilst I was here…" he stopped himself.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't choose those names mate, in fact I think Albus Severus would be a great wizard, assuming you don't get a Lily that is."

"It's just well I learnt the other day that Malfoy is expecting a child very soon and well one day in eleven years or so. That child is going to meet mine. And yours of course." Ron scowled but Harry continued "I'm just saying I've viewed someone as an enemy all my life, first Dudley then Malfoy, Snape, Tom and so many others I thought. Perhaps it's time to stop some of these rivalries. Snape was a complete git and Dumbledore kept some very important secrets from me. But in the end Severus sacrificed his entire life to help my mothers sacrifice and it can't have been easy for him to look at the face of my father judge him with the eyes of my mother. Then there was Albus, he kept probably the most important secret and took it with him to his grave but… I've thought about it again and again and… I don't think he could have done it any other way."

"I know what you mean. When I you showed me that memory of Snape's I could barely believe it. It would be an honour though to call Albus Severus Potter my nephew."

Both Harry and Ron smiled. "Have you decided who the Godparents will be yet?"

Harry smiled "Yeah we decided that if it's a girl than Luna and Rolf can be the Godparents and if it's a boy then Neville and Hannah can fill that role. Ginny really wants a child 3 as well so whoever looses out can be the Godparents of that child." Harry frowned again.

"If we don't make back Harry we'll turn Pettigrew into the MLE and then we'll get your Godfather back. But we're either changing the Timeline or leaving it, we can't do both."

Harry looked up at Ron "I don't know what's best going back to Ginny, James and Child 2 or staying here and preventing all the suffering that's due to come, it's not just the deaths too; Teddy should be tucked in at night by Remus and Tonks, not me or Andromeda, then there's Lavender she survived the battle but regardless of what Seamus thinks or doesn't think she should never have had to endure Greyback like that and I don't need to tell you about George."

"You're right Harry. No one should have had to suffer what happened." Said Ron "But we cannot deny what happened. The Wizarding World learnt a lot from that war and you and Ginny deserve to have the life you have and to make me a very happy uncle, not that there is anything wrong with my other 5 nieces and nephews but lets face it they aren't born yet either. We'll either go back to the world we worked so hard to rebuild or failing that we'll stay here and start all over again, at least it should be easier the second time around."

Harry smiled "I was right Hermione has defiantly corrupted you more than you have her."

"Yeah worse case scenario I won't be the prat I was for seven years. I'll treat Hermione with the respect she deserves and I won't let my pathetic jealousies get in the way."

Suddenly Ron was impacted by a bushy haired missile as Hermione enveloped him in a passionate kiss. Harry had seen the pair of them do this for years now but he had to admit it was a bit 'unnerving' to see a couple of 11-year-olds snog passionately with a baby between them.

"Not that it's not nice to see how much my two best friends love each other I really must ask, did you find the book?" said Harry

Hermione very slowly pulled apart from Ron. "Yes sorry Harry."

"I'm not!" said Ron Hermione slapped his arm while Harry chuckled.

"Anyway this book should have some information on mirrors but I doubt we'll learn everything because methods of time travel tend to be in more specialized books. But it'll be a start at least."

Harry nodded they made there way out of the restricted section and sat at one of the tables around the book. Ron conjured up a baby basket and placed Rose in it.

"Here it is the Mirror of Emit!" said Hermione

_The Mirror of Emit:_

_Is one of the great magic mirrors of the desire curse. While the Mirror of Erised (see page 568) shows what the viewer desires above all else the Mirror of Emit shows a person the point in their personal history where they would most desire to return to, for whatever reason. According to legend the mirror has the ability to send a certain person or persons physically back through time. This person or persons must look into the mirror with the desire to go back in time but with no knowledge of the Mirrors capabilities However because of the frequent loss and nature of the mirror this theory cannot be tested._

"Well that's not very helpful" said Ron "but at least we know how we got here."

"True, I was hoping for more information, I can probably find out more if I had the time, but the Hogwarts express arrives in less than an hour and the chances of getting caught are huge."

"So what now." Asked Ron

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><p>OK so this was the slightly more interesting of two chapters i must say. Anyway i hope you like it and will leave a review or two.<p> 


	3. To hide again

Chapter 3: To hide again

"Is Gringotts open?" asked Harry

Ron and Hermione turned to him.

"No this is a Sunday and it's nearly tea time." Said Hermione

"Damn!" said Harry

"Why do you want to go to Gringotts?" asked Ron

"We need to find somewhere to stay, somewhere safe, together. I can't imagine Molly letting you spontaneously come home when you should be at school along with two friends and your daughter to stay, even if one of them is Harry Potter. I'd imagine Hermione's parents would be just as uneasy if not more and my relatives barely allow me to stay in Privet Drive, never mind you two. Then there is Rose, how are we supposed to explain that 11-year-old Hermione gave birth 5 days ago?"

"Couldn't we just stay here?" asked Hermione

"No absolutely not." Said Harry rather roughly, Ron and Hermione looked rather shocked so he continued "Even if by some miracle we manage to get sorted, fed and settled in our dormitory with Rose concealed. We'd then have to either keep her concealed somehow from everyone in school or else sneak out after everyone's seen us no doubt acting odd to try and cover our tracks."

"We could try approaching Dumbledore for help." Said Ron

"No, we can't approach anybody until we understand our situation better." Said Harry "We need to keep everyone in the dark about who we are and what we're up to until we have no other choice. Remember who else is here, on the back of someone's head."

"Voldemort!" said Hermione "Bloody hell we need go."

"Wha…" started Ron "Rose! No bloody way am I letting my daughter anywhere near that bastard."

"You see the problem; we can't stay here when we know our enemy is so close let alone stay here with Rose."

"But where can we stay?" said Ron

"Well if Gringotts were open I'd ask them to provide me access to one of the Potter family residences. But with them shut till morning we have no where to stay."

"Do you have any money on you Harry?" asked Hermione

"Yeah, remember lunch." Said Harry

"Do you have enough for night at the Leaky Cauldron?" Said Hermione

Harry's eyes shot open "Ron you married a genius, yes Hermione I have more than enough."

"So should we go there now?" asked Ron with enthusiasm

"I think that would be best." Said Harry "But first we should return to the train and retrieve our luggage, also it might be an idea to perform a memory charm on the trolley lady as she saw us all together, we don't want to leave a trail to follow."

So the Golden Trio made there way back to Hogsmeade and then apparated back onto the train. Harry, Ron and Rose shrunk the luggage while Hermione attended to the trolley lady. When she returned back to the cabin she looked a little troubled.

"I've had a thought." She said "As soon as our names are announced at the feast and we don't step forward the school is going to be looking for us. It would be best if we go to the Leaky under disguise. I'll make us look older, like I did with Ron when we broke into Gringotts."

"Ah happy days!" said Ron

Hermione quickly performed the charms on herself and the other 2/3 of the trio and just as the train started to pull into Hogsmeade, they removed the protective charms that they had originally placed on the door and apparated just as Hagrid started shouting for first years.

The Golden Trio and Rose appeared at the apparition point just outside the Leaky Cauldron and entered the pub. The three 11-year-olds looked like three middle aged dwarfs. Harry was pretty sure they looked a bit odd, Rose seemed a little unhappy that her Daddy now had a long ginger beard and was starting to whinge.

"Ron let me hold her, it's alright sweetie, I'll take it off tomorrow you'll have your Daddy's pretty face back." Hermione took hold of her daughter while Harry spoke to Tom about getting a family room at such short notice.

Because of the short notice it cost Harry extra for the room but after dinner the four of them were settled, Rose had decided that Ron's beard was something fun to play with so Hermione had given her daughter back to Ron who was now trying to keep Rose happy without receiving to much pain from the constant tugging on his artificial beard.

"So we're at the Leaky for the night, now what do we do?" said Ron

"Tomorrow we go to Gringotts as soon as possible then find one of the potter properties that will suite us and set up base there." Said Harry

"Yeah but then what, we can't hide for ever?" said Ron

"I know but we will need to hide for now. We must find out more about the Mirror of Emit, right now we only know that it brought us back in time, we need to know whether it's reversible or not."

"Alright Harry, but what then?" said Hermione "If we can't return to the present what do we do?"

Harry sighed and closed his eyes for a minute, he didn't want to believe that he had lost his wife and son to time travel. Even if his wife was still around now, she wasn't the vibrant fiery Ginny that he kissed in front of the Gryffindor common room. She was the timid young 10-year-old with a crush on the boy-who-lived. Harry shook himself from those thoughts.

"Then we make the best of it." Said Harry

"What do you mean?" asked Ron "What can we do?"

"Well not what we did last time for starters." Said Harry "We know where all the Horcruxes are, he hasn't even made his snake a Horcrux yet so we won't need to worry about her."

"I guess." Said Ron

"If it comes to that though, I just hope Ginny and I can still…"

Hermione suddenly understood "Oh Harry! I'm sorry I didn't think." She pulled him into a hug. Harry was surprised to find tears coming out of his eyes. It was finally catching up to him; Ginny, James, impeding child 2. There had to be a way to go back in time."

"Why did we come back here? How can this be our greatest desire?" asked Harry

"That's a thought actually." Said Ron

Harry and Hermione turned to him.

"Think about it, the book said that mirror takes us back to a time we most desire to go to, but did any of us particularly want to go back in time?"

"That's a good point." Said Hermione. "It was always my desire to stay with my husband and daughter. Let's face it after everything we suffered our marriage and family are worth everything to us."

Harry nodded glumly "After being forced to spend a year apart from Ginny I vowed never to leave her again. I would never choose to abandon her to go back here. Let alone her, my son and unborn child."

"Which begs the question." Said Hermione "If everything we desire already exists in the future, why has the mirror sent us back in time?"

"The best I can come up with is that I've always had an inbuilt desire to stop all the suffering that we had to endure during the war and even in some of the years beforehand." Said Harry "But my life with Ginny and our family has always meant far more to me than the past."

"Like you said mate Ginny is more important to you than changing time unless…" said Ron

"Unless?" asked Harry

"Well, you always said you wished you'd noticed Ginny earlier, maybe you wanted to come back to start your relationship earlier?" asked Ron sounding less convinced by his own argument the more he talked.

"Ron that's ridiculous." Said Hermione

"No Hermione it's not, ignoring Ginny is probably the biggest mistake I ever made." Said Harry "But the fact of the matter is, we had a great relationship in 2006 and we had a son and another child on the way. I wouldn't risk a second chance when I had so much as a result of my first."

"What we need is more information on the mirror of Emit." said Hermione "One page in a school library book is not enough to go on. We need more information."

"Well I don't think we can search the Hogwarts library again." Said Harry "The sorting will be taking place right now and once they realise we're missing…"

"You mean once they realise you're missing Potter!" said Ron smiling "Us two are just another Weasley and a muggle-born witch whose true genius is yet to be recognised."

"Whatever the story is," sighed Harry "the end result is that three First Year students got on the train but never arrived at Hogwarts. I shudder to think what the Daily Profit will say when we wake up."

"It doesn't matter anyway because I don't think we'll find anything more in the Hogwarts library even if we did look." Said Hermione

"Why not?" asked Harry

"Because time travel is one of the more protected secrets, a device like the Mirror of Emit will never be allowed to be discussed in great detail inside of a school."

"So we can't even find any information on the mirror?" said Ron

"Don't be so defeatist. The old family's have more exclusive items in their libraries. Including the Potter and Black families."

Ron and Harry looked up "That's brilliant Hermione tomorrow we can just asked the Goblins to give us access to the main Potter Manor." Said Harry "I just hope it's there because I don't know how we'll be able to access the Black Library if it's not."

"What do you mean, we just need to enter Grimmauld Place like we always do." Said Ron

"We can't Ron, in 2006 I am the heir to the House of Black because Sirius's will named me so." Said Harry "But he's not dead yet, So Sirius is the heir to the House of Black and as such the only one who can deactivate the enchantments."

"So in order to gain access to Grimmauld Place we'd have to break your Godfather out of Azkaban." Said Ron

"That's even assuming that the Black Library has what we're looking for." Said Hermione

"There is a third option." Said Harry, the other two thirds of the trio looked at him "The Department of Mysteries might have something, and unlike Azkaban we've actually broken in there before."

"Let's try the Potter library before we try breaking into anything first." Said Hermione "I think we should get some rest now and prepare ourselves to face tomorrows' challenges."

The boys agreed and everyone said goodnight.

When everyone was washed dressed and glamour charmed, the Golden Trio plus Rose went down to breakfast. On the way to a table Harry picked the morning's Profit off a news stand and looked at the headline, sure enough the headline was about Harry but as he read further he realised something else had happened:

_**BOY-WHO-LIVED FAILS TO ARRIVE AT HOGWARTS:**_

_HARRY POTTER AND TWO OTHER FIRST YEARS ARE MISSING_

_It is with great shock that the Daily Profit must report that the Boy-Who-Lived is missing along with two other First Years. Last night Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore informed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that three students due to start at Hogwarts for the first time did not come off the Hogwarts Express. When Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Weasley were called forth during the Sorting Process, the process that determines which of the four houses of Hogwarts a student gets sorted into, none of the three responded to their names being called. As many of our readers will undoubtedly be aware Harry Potter is famous for his role in the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the age of one nearly ten years ago. However it is hard to determine the connection between the disappearance of the Boy-Who-Lived and the disappearance of Mr and Miss Weasley whom we understand, despite sharing the same surname are not related. Ronald Weasley is the sixth son of Arthur Weasley who heads the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Arthur Weasley, who is quite understandably distressed, has urged his son to get in contact with him or his mother to let them know he is alright. Regrettably we currently know nothing about Miss Weasley who we suspect to be muggle-born but, due to an unknown flaw, her parents are not on record at Hogwarts. Very little is understood about the situation right now but it is this reporters understanding that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is conducting a most thorough investigation involving nearly half of the law enforcement. We will have more updates with the evening Profit. For details on the History of Harry Potter see pages 2-3, for details on the Wizarding Weasley Family see page 4._

"What the heck?" remarked Harry

Ron looked up at his best friend and brother-in-law "I take it we made the front page." He whispered so no one else could hear them.

"Look!" said Harry pointing Hermione's name out to them.

Hermione gasped "Weasley? How did they know?"

"Maybe they self-updated when we came back?" suggested Ron

"But back in our timeline when I went through my old official Hogwarts papers I was still down as Hermione Granger. If those papers weren't altered then these shouldn't."

"Under what circumstances would the names at Hogwarts get altered?" Harry asked Hermione

"Well if the Child in question gets adopted and as a result their surname changes or if they get officially married before they graduate or are formally withdrawn from the school, then their names can change."

"Well the two of you are officially married from 2000 onwards, could that have anything to do with it?" asked Harry, not entirely sure what he was asking.

"Well it obviously has something to do with it, but. What official proof is there that we're married?" asked Hermione

Harry saw her point. There was no marriage license or any documentation Hermione had signed as 'Mrs Hermione Weasley' that would have registered as official proof in the year 1991.

But then Ron said "What about Rose?"

"Our daughter, what about her?" asked Hermione

"That is it Hermione, she is our daughter and despite not being born for another 15 years she is living proof of the love between us, could she somehow be 'official' proof of our marriage?"

"I… i… don't?" stuttered Hermione she didn't understand how but Rose somehow seemed to be the most likely explanation.

Harry on the other hand had an idea "When a magical child is born at what point does that child end up on the register at Hogwarts?"

Hermione looked at Harry "Well if it's the child of a witch and/or Wizard then the name goes down as soon as its named, but if the child is muggle-born then normally as soon as accidental magic is detected by the register. Why do you ask?"

"Rose was born in 2006. So her name will probably be written down then, but in this timeline she didn't exist until the night before last. So…"

"…So the register would have picked her up and written down her name…" continued Ron

"…and because I'm still registered as a Hogwarts student who hasn't graduated or been formally withdrawn…" said Hermione

"…then the register would have recognised Rose's birth as the official proof of the Marriage between Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger." Finished Harry

"But if Rose hasn't been born until 2006?" asked Ron "Will the register put her Birth date down as 6 days ago or 18th June 2006?"

Hermione's eyes opened wide "I think there is a good chance it'll say 2006, if that's the case we need to go into hiding before Rose is discovered."

"Yeah." Said Harry "When they discover that your name use to be Granger they'll launch an investigation into why it's changed and when they discover 2006."

"They'll know time travel's involved." Said Ron "What do we do."

"The best I can suggest is that after we paid for Breakfast we go straight to Gringotts, gain access to the Potter Manor – so we can use the library there – withdraw a substantial amount of Muggle and Wizarding currency then head to the manor and set up a Fidelius charm."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other nodded then turned to Harry. "Let's do it!" they said in a manner that would make Fred and George both jealous and proud.

Knowing time was of the essence, Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Leaky and went straight to the bank. One advantage was that under the glamour charm, they looked like three middle-aged dwarfs and a baby.

As a group they entered the bank and approached one of the tellers.

"Yes?" asked the Goblin

"We wish to speak to someone in private about gaining access to my assets." Said Harry

The Goblin gave the apparent Dwarf a perplexing look, he obviously didn't recognise this customer. "Do you have something that proves you are an account holder with the bank?" he asked politely but nonetheless in manner that challenged the dwarfs' status as an account holder.

"I have this." Said Harry showing the Goblin his key

The Goblin examined the key "Very well I will set you up with Bogrod."

The Trio and a baby were then shown into a private room with the Goblin Bogrod.

"Before we begin," said Harry "I will need your word that what goes on between us is confidential."

Bogrod looked at the Dwarf, who had still not identified himself as anyone other than a customer "That is the nature of the business. This meeting will remain confidential."

Harry smiled "Hermione."

Hermione took out her wand and performed a series of "Finite's" on the three of them.

Bogrod's eyes widened at the transformation before him. The three 11-year-olds that had disappeared yesterday had now revealed themselves before him. What particularly interested him though was the presence of a baby. As far as he knew there was no baby reported missing along with the three students.

"I see you recognise us." Said Harry

The Goblin nodded.

"You must not tell the authorities that you saw us, agreed."

Bogrod smiled "That is the nature of the business Harry Potter. Your secret is safe with me, however should the ministry ask we are obliged to inform them that your account is active, but we are not obliged them what activity is happening. If you request us to give them as little information as possible then no measures at their disposal can obligate us to expand on your activates with the bank."

Harry nodded "Then in that case I request that you give the ministry as little information about my activities with the bank as possible," another thought occurred to Harry "and no information to anybody else regardless of who." He knew Dumbledore would attempt to find out if Harry had been active with his Gringotts account.

"Very well!" replied Bogrod

Harry felt magic pulsate through him and he knew that a magical contract had been formed between himself and Bogrod of Gringotts.

"Now Mr Potter what can I do for you and your associates?"

"I wish to assert control of one of the holdings of the House of Potter. The Holding in question is the main Potter Manor in Cumberland, I wish to do this as soon as feasible, today if possible."

Bogrod nodded "You will have to fill out some forms, but it can be done, the holding can be released to you within an hour if needs be."

"Thank you. I would also like to withdrawn a stipend of Wizarding Money and another of Muggle from my trust vault."

Bogrod nodded "Very well Mr Potter if it pleases you we can fill out the forms now then I will escort you to your vault."

A little over an hour later, back under glamour charms Harry, Ron and Hermione exited the Bank with a considerably amount of money from both worlds and the keys and deeds to the Potter Manor in Cumberland.

"Ready guys?" he asked

"Yes." Said Hermione "Let's get out of here."

They apparated to Cumberland.

Potter Manor was an impressive site, it had apparently been used by Harry's Grandparents prior to their deaths. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had all taken a visit after the war was over and they discovered Harry had this building as his ancestral home. As such they all knew what it contained: 12 bedrooms, a large kitchen, a dining room large enough to accommodate 50 people, a large ball room about two-thirds the size of the Hogwarts Great Hall and much to Hermione's delight one of the largest private libraries in the Wizarding World. Back in 2006 between the library in Cumberland and the House of Black Library in Grimmauld Place Harry probably had access to more knowledge and wisdom than any other citizen in Wizarding Britain. Although now Harry only had access to the Potter Library and if the Mirror of Emit was classed as Dark Magic then there was a good chance that the library would be useless, not that the Golden Trio weren't going to try though.

Harry, Ron, Hermione entered the main entrance of the manor.

"Right first things first, we need to set up the protections, starting with the Fidelius Charm." Said Hermione

"You're the expert Hermione just tell us what to do."

Hermione sighed but smiled, some things never changed. "Alright here we go."

Next Chapter will feature the Fidelius Charm, not sure how I'm going to do it or when. I feel I've been neglecting my crossover so it will probably, but by no means certainly, be up after Third World has been updated. As always please leave reviews.


	4. The Fidelius Charm

Ok i know i said it would be a while but i just felt like writing this for no apparent reason at 2 o'clock in the morning, probably not wise as i have 5 hours worth of classes tomorrow in the space of 6.

Anyway i know it's a peedie wee chapter but i felt the Fidelius Charm deserved as much. This is merely my interpretation of what it might look like Rowling would probably disagree but I hope you enjoy and let me know what think.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>: The Fidelius Charm

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Rose entered the lounge, where some of Harry's grandparents furniture remained magically preserved after all these years. The three of them out of years of habit went as one to the largest couch and sat down, Hermione and Rose in the middle.

"Alright in order to do this we'll need a cup and a dagger." Said Hermione and she promptly conjured such items onto the coffee table in front of them.

"Why do we need those?" asked Ron

"We need blood."

"What do you mean, we need blood?"

Hermione sighed, "Assuming Harry wants to be the secret-keeper?"

Harry nodded.

"Then in order for us to be able to stay here whilst I'm casting the charm, we need our blood to mix with Harry's so that we'll be able to be here when the fidelius is cast."

"But we never needed blood to get into Grimmauld Place?" retorted Ron

"I know Ron, but that's because we weren't present when the charm was cast. Theoretically if you want to wait outside the boundaries with Rose, Harry and I can stay here then let you in once we're done, but I doubt you'll want to miss this." She smiled.

"What about Rose?" said Harry "I doubt you'd want to cut your own daughter, especially since she's not a week old yet?"

Ron looked alarmed for a second but Hermione quickly cut in "Relax boys, providing both Ron and I add our blood she, as our daughter, should be protected."

"What about Hedwig?" asked Harry, he gazed at the owl, who was sleeping in her cage.

"Oh I forgot about her," said Hermione "Well with animals it's a little… different, we don't need her blood… exactly. What we need is… uh… her… waste." She finished awkwardly.

"Well I'm glad I don't have to cut my owl." Said Harry in response

"Well I don't yet have Crookshanks and Ron left Scabbers at the Burrow so Hedwig is the only pet we have to include." Said Hermione

"Any other factors?" asked Ron

"No the fidelius offers us secrecy and protection from all outsiders, we should add our protective enchantments afterwards though, just in case." Said Hermione

"Why…?" began Ron then he smiled "Constant Vigilance, right?"

"Yeah I don't think either of you will betray me," Said Harry "but we should add the enchantments as well just in case, after all the entire Wizarding World is looking for us right now."

Hermione shook her head "We've become highly paranoid little children haven't we?"

The Boys grinned, and Rose even made a small sound that one could argue was a noise of agreement.

"Well if you're both ready?" Hermione handed the dagger to Harry "as the Secret-Keeper you need to start."

Harry sliced the dagger across his left palm, the cut stung causing Harry to wince. As blood began to seep out Hermione held the out.

"In here." She said

Harry let the blood drip into the cup. After four drops made a small red puddle in the cup Hermione said "That's enough." Harry withdrew and using his wand healed the cut on his palm.

Hermione pointed her wand at the cup "_Fidissima!_" at her spell, the blood began to glow white and Harry felt magic course through his blood. He knew that Hermione had made him a Secret-Keeper.

"Your turn Ronald." Hermione held the cup out and Harry gave the dagger to Ron.

Ron took the blade and like Harry winced as the dagger cut into his palm and like Harry he to deposited four drops into the cup. However the blood that Ron dropped was would not touch Harry's. As if a barrier existed around Harry's blood, Ron's blood was forced to form a small red moat around Harry's.

Hermione again pointed her Wand at the cup "_Fidelis._ Ronald. Bilius. Weasley." Emphasizing each of his names as she spoke. When she finished the incantation, Ron's blood melded into Harry's and the white glow tinged slightly in to a slightly pinker white.

Ron then used his wand to heal his own hand.

"Now it's my turn," said Hermione "could you hold Rose for me please Ron." Ron took his daughter who was meekly observing the peculiar ritual performed by her parents and uncle. She of course had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Hermione placed the cup on the coffee table and cut her own hand. Like Ron, her blood formed a thin moat around the glow that was Harry and Ron's blood.

Hermione healed her hand before she pointed her wand at the cup "_Fedelis_. Hermione. Jean. Weasley." Hermione's blood then merged into that of the boys. The collective blood of the Golden Trio now formed a light rose pink glow.

"Now it's Hedwig's turn." Said Hermione

Using the dagger Harry scrapped some of Hedwig's… droppings… up and then dropped them onto the blood compound.

"_Fidelis_. Hedwig." The Droppings mixed with the blood and the compound was now glowing a light shade of red.

"Alright that is all of us." Said Hermione "Now Harry, hold this cup with me." Hermione held the cup in front of Harry with her left hand and pointed her wand at it with her right hand. Out of the wand she formed a magical connection with the blood-owl dropping substance.

Harry clasped his own left hand around the cup with Hermione.

"Now repeat after me: I Harry James Potter…"

"_I Harry James Potter…_"

"…do herby declare…"

"…_do herby declare…_"

"…that the Potter Manor…"

"…_that the Potter Manor…_"

"…and its surrounding territory…"

"…_and its surrounding territory…"_

"… be declared a secret kept…"

"…_be declared a secret kept…_"

"…to be guarded by…"

"…_to be guarded by…_"

"…Harry James Potter…"

"…_Harry James Potter…_"

"…on whose authority alone…"

"…_on whose authority alone…_"

"…may determine access…"

"…_may determine access…_"

"…to the secret kept."

"…_to the secret kept._"

Now Harry as owner of the manor had declared it a secret, the connection between wand and substance merged into the substance.

"Now what?" asked Ron

"Now we go outside." Said Hermione

She took the cup outside as the Boys with Rose followed her.

Once outside, all four eyes were on the cup as Hermione put it on the path leading up from the gate to the building and pointed her wand at it.

"Here goes." She said "_Protego Fidelius!_"

Ron discovered Hermione was right. This was definitely something he didn't want to miss. The cup and the contents were enveloped in an aqua blue light and as the light grew more intensely the cup and contents merged into the magic. The aqua light rose into the air and the light expanded and formed a dome above the manor and the grounds.

If one were look at the large house in the secluded area of Cumberland, from the outside, they would not be treated to the glorious light show the Golden Trio plus Rose witnessed. One would merely have seen the grand residence disappear from plain sight. For it had become a secret, the name "Potter Manor" was fading from parchments and in documents in Gringotts, the Ministry, Hogwarts and any other places in the Wizarding World where the name might have been recorded. The Manor was now a Secret Protected by the Keeper: Harry James Potter.

Hermione began wave her wand performing diagnostics, then she stopped and smirked at the boys and Rose.

"It worked then?" Harry asked the question, it was well known that the Fidelius was a difficult charm to perform.

"Yup!" said Hermione, popping the 'p' in the process. She was clearly very pleased with herself, despite the time travel situation.

Ron smiled at his wife and with one arm pulled the bushy haired girl towards him and kissed her. As he did this, Rose begun to squirm, being uneasy and claustrophobic at the close proximity to her Mummy and Daddy.

Feeling Hermione deserved this congratulation; Harry eased Rose out of Ron's arm and turned his back to them to grant them a little privacy.

"Come on Rose, Uncle Harry will show you how to do basic protection charms." Said Harry. He took out his wand and began reciting the memorised list of protective spells: "_Protego Totalem, Salvio Hexia, Repello Muggletum, Muffilato, Cave Inmicum…_"

Harry turned to see Hermione and Ron had finished their brief celebration and were both facing him.

"S…sorry Harry." Said Hermione

"Yeah sorry mate." Said Ron

"Don't be." If it were Ginny I'd have done the same thing." Said Harry, Ron mysteriously didn't feel so guilty anymore and Hermione giggled.

"Now that that's done I think we should check out the Potter Library." Remarked Hermione.


	5. The Mission

We are the Golden Trio

Chapter 5: The Mission

Harry, still carrying Rose, led his brother and sister in-law to the Potter Library. Like the rest of the manor the library was under a preservation charm so the great old tomes that they had to access were thankfully dust free. However the Potter Library, while no where near as large as the Hogwarts Library, was still huge, about the size of a small concert hall.

"So where do we start looking Hermione." Asked Ron

"I have a mental checklist of various topics which might hold information, but it's probably best if I look through them myself. Could you both just focus on books concerning time travel?

They nodded.

Hermione smiled, gone were the childhood moans of having to actually study.

"Just look for anything that refers to the 'Mirror of Emit', that's the best we can do at this stage." She instructed

Harry placed Rose in her baby basket and they began searching. While Harry and Ron worked to Hermione's restrictions without any success, Hermione was pulling out books on Arithmancy, Runes, various books on Legends and Myths, and surprisingly books on Ancient Roman and Egyptian magical history.

"Why are you looking into ancient history Hermione? I would have thought that the magic in the mirror would have taken more… enlightened minds to create." Asked Ron after a while.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry

Hermione looked at them "Magic before the founders era was considerably more crude, it's only with education and research that in the modern day we are able to perform magic so expertly. However despite that the Egyptians had some experience with Runes that we still don't understand and the Roman's had experience in merging magic and glass. There is no guarantee but the creator might have had to adopt methods from one or both civilizations in order to make the mirror."

"Found anything promising?" asked Ron

"Well maybe, there is nothing in the books about the Mirror of Emit but there is something in one of the Egyptian books about a rune charm that keeps two parts of an object magically connected. That's nothing special now because with vanishing cabinets, floo fireplaces and the like, we have charms and spells that have been invented to specifically make that possible but I think the Mirror was made before anyone developed those spells."

"So put simply you suspect that the mirror was built by sorcerers using either ancient Egyptian or Roman magic?" asked Harry

"Or both! Yes." said Hermione She then lifted a book to the left of the small mountain she had created whilst researching. "This one holds a lot of interesting speculation." She indicated _Pre-Renaissance Magical Research: A Study_.

"What do you mean by speculation? Asked Ron

"Well unfortunately not a lot was written down in the pre-renaissance era, that's only really happened in the last 300 years. In fact, that is probably why a device like the Mirror of Emit is capable of existing without people in the modern age knowing much about it."

"So, any way of proving that the Mirror was made by a… pre-renaissance... magical researchy sorcerer?" asked Ron

Hermione rolled her eyes "Unfortunately the only way I can determine that is by doing more research and seeing if any of the methods mentioned in any of the books could be used to create the mirror." She sighed, Hermione might be good at research but even she had limits.

"Is there any way we can speed things up, or maybe narrow down the type of methods?" asked Harry

"I don't know, but perhaps… can you show me the mirror Harry?"

Harry retrieved the mirror and Hermione looked it over. She saw her own reflection in the glasses and carefully examined the outline. Then she turned the mirror over and scanned the back and then her eyes focused on the back.

"Hello?" she said

"You found something?" the Boys asked simultaneously

"Yes I think so." She indicated a set of faded marks on the back of the mirror directly in the centre of the frame, and then she took out her wand "_Aparecium!_"

The new marks reveal to complement the old ones and pretty soon they formed a Rune on the back of the mirror.

lll - lll

- lll -

lll - lll

"What the? Does that narrow things down?" asked Ron

"If it does what I think it does then it might do more than that." Said Hermione excitedly. She began scurrying through the pile of books she's created before picking out one of the Egyptian rune books.

"YES!" she called out, unfortunately she scared Rose and said child proceeded to let the Golden Trio know it.

A few minutes later Rose had calmed down and decided to nap in her 11-year-old mothers arms.

"As I was saying." Said Hermione "I found the Rune. It's called a 'dual single conscious' rune. It pretty much does what it says. It holds a conscious connection between two separate catalysts or in this case two halves of a mirror. Ancient Egyptian sorcerers use to use this Rune to maintain a link between enchanted mummies and their coffins in order ensure that all mummies operated from the same sarcophagus. Also the Roman's used this rune to bind their slaves to particular locations, so as to ensure they didn't try to leave an area they were bound to."

"I'm not sure which is more horrible of those two examples." Said Ron

"I would go with slavery, from my personal experience." Remarked Harry

Ron looked at his best mate, he knew Harry had been talking about his pre-Hogwarts life at the Dursleys, he still remembered when Harry told him and Hermione about his home life after the war. He wanted to go and tear the Dursleys a new one but Harry had forced him not to. Ever since the war ended everyone had been trying to put the past behind them, Harry may not have liked his past but he had accepted that it had happened and wanted to have a peaceful life from the Battle of Hogwarts onwards. Of course a certain bloody mirror was making that a bit difficult.

"So slaves and mummies aside can you tell us anything more useful about this mirror, like how to control it?" asked Ron

Hermione suddenly frowned "No I can tell the Mirror was probably made over 500 years ago at least and that the rune controls both halves, but not much more than that I'm afraid."

"It's a pity we can't just ask it for help." Said Harry

Hermione frowned but Ron looked thoughtful "You said this rune was used to bind slaves and mummies to their tasks of work and guarding tombs right?"

"Yes, why" said Hermione

"Well mummies don't have minds of there own would the ancient Egyptians have needed to add other charms to make them do their bidding or would this rune program them to play the part?"

"The Rune binds the subject to a task. I suppose it programmed the mummies but what does this have to do with the mirror?"

"What if the mirror is programmed to?" said Ron "What if it has a mind like the mummies did?"

"Ron… what… that…" Hermione couldn't understand where he was going.

"Let me try something." Said Ron, he turned the mirror back over. "Err… Mirror of Emit, please show us how to get back to our present time?" he said rather awkwardly.

Incredibly the mirror reacted. The glass reflection of the Golden Trio vanished and what happened next made each of them flinch. The mirror showed Voldemort. But more than that it showed the moment he died: Harry and Voldemort's last exchange of spells. Then just as Voldemort died the mirror showed an image of Professor Quirrell. It rotated round to view the back of his head, the turban, where Voldemort was imbedded. Then mirror showed Harry, Ron and Hermione together in what looked like Hogwarts right after the final battle. Then mirror faded out to show what looked like their first meeting: Harry and Ron sitting in their compartment on the Hogwarts express and Hermione standing in the doorway. Finally the mirror faded back to the reflective surface.

"What the… Ron… how?" said Hermione

"I figured that this thing must be partially… sentient? So therefore I simply thought that if this Rune gave it some kind of mind of its own why not do what Harry suggested… and ask it."

"Brilliant bloody brilliant Ron that's…" stutter Hermione, for lack of appropriate words she pulled him into a hug and kissed him "Of course who knows what those images mean."

"I can't help there Hermione, I've no idea what they mean." Answered Ron

"Oh I think the answer is pretty obvious." Said Harry, the other two turned to face him.

"What do you mean Harry?" asked Hermione

"We do it all again, only this time we use our previous knowledge. We find and destroy the Horcruxes. Then take him out, and Quirrell along with him. Only this time no sleeping in a tent, no wearing that dam locket no fighting a war. This time we get Tom before he can come back" Said Harry

Ron thought about it, the images in the mirror, the potential of what they could achieve and looked his best friend in the eye "Alright!"

"What? Harry, Ron, what does killing Voldemort have to do with getting back to the Present?"

"Hermione I asked the mirror how to get back…"

"…and it told us to take Voldemort out." Said Harry

Hermione tried to say something else but Harry cut across her.

"I know this is not exactly an obvious solution, it might not be a solution at all but it's the closest we have. At the very least you'll not have to send your parents to Australia."

Hermione sighed "What the hell, we managed last time. But can we at least try and plan some things out before we go looking for Horcruxes again? I don't want to ride a dragon out of Gringotts again."

"That I think we can do." Said Harry smiling

"So let's get started then!" said Ron

The Three of them and Rose moved back to the lounge and sat down.

"Right we need to establish what we need to do and how long we've got." Said Hermione

"What do you mean Voldemort doesn't get resurrected until the end of our 4th year?" said Ron

"Ron we've drastically altered the timeline by not attending Hogwarts with the rest of the students." Said Harry "Not to mention Voldemort will right now be trying to retrieve the Philosophers Stone, and with Dumbledore distracted by our disappearance, and the Mirror of Erised not even put in place until the New Year he just might manage it."

Ron paled "That means that he could be resurrected very soon doesn't it?"

"Yes. But I think we've got a more pressing issue to deal with before we go after Voldemort or the Horcruxes… or that is to say we should deal with one first of all?" said Hermione, she was giving Harry a really concerned look.

"You mean the Horcrux that's imbedded in my scar right?" said Harry

"Yes, I mean… if it's still there, you removed it in the future so perhaps…" said Hermione

"Oh it's there alright, no doubt about it." Said Harry grimly

Ron and Hermione looked at him "You sure mate? Is there anyway of telling?" asked Ron

"I'm pretty sure yeah… for as long as I could remember I feel something deep inside myself. Voldemort struck me down in the forest… it was like a huge weight I didn't know I was carrying was lifted. My mind was at peace for the first time since I was a year old. But since we got back here I've been feeling the presence of the Horcrux again. I think it's still in me."

Hermione was shaking with worry now "Harry… we need to be absolutely sure. Is there any doubt..."

"Of course there is." Said Harry, he was glum and more than a little "I don't want to be a Horcrux, that is why I hope I'm wrong but I don't think I am."

Ron looked from Harry to Hermione "Parseltongue!" he said

The other looked at him "That's right!" said Hermione "You lost the ability to talk to snakes after the curse struck you…"

"…so if I can speak Parseltongue then I'm still a Horcrux." Finished Harry "I guess we should do a test?"

They all looked each other in the eye and nodded, Hermione aimed her wand on the floor "_Serpensortia!_" a snake pooped out of her wand a landed on the floor.

Harry looked at it and for a second wondered what to say then "Oi snake can you understand me?"

Harry looked to his two best friends, and he knew from the looks on there faces "I'm a Horcrux then!" he said

"Oh Harry I'm sorry." Said Hermione

"What do we do then, we can't kill Voldemort while you have part of his soul in your head."

Harry looked down "I don't know."

Hermione looking a little sheepish answered "I think I might. But the process might kill you."


	6. The Future meets the Past

Chapter 6: The Future meets the Past

"What do you mean?" said Harry

"Well!" said Hermione fidgeting "After I joined the ministry I began discussions with the Unspeakable's. I wanted to know if there was a way to destroy a Horcrux inside a person without resorting to such… drastic measures as you had to. They developed a theory."

"Wait why didn't you tell us about this?" asked Ron

"This is very secretive stuff. The Existence of Horcrux's is a closely guarded secret, even though we have first hand experience this was need-to-know, besides which, I only got the theory just before going on maternity leave. The two of you probably would have been told at some point, you know had we not ended up back here."

"I suppose you're right sorry love." said Ron

"It's alright Ron." soothed Hermione

"So what is this method?" asked Harry

"The basic idea is that the Horcrux attaches itself to a person through a wound, leaving that wound open for the duration of that person's life."

"Such as Harry's scar?"

"Yes. The Unspeakable's summarized that the Horcrux must have been attached to your head. He thinks that it might have been possible to remove it without the whole method you had to go through."

"What is this method?" asked Harry

"Well essentially you would have to have basilisk venom fed directly into your scar. Then we'd have to administer phoenix tears to your scar and probably have you swallow them as well. The last part would be difficult because we'd have to do it late enough to kill the Horcrux but before…"

"Before Harry ends up dead?" finished Ron

"Well yes. Like I said it would be risky but…"

"But we've got know other choice." Said Harry

"Harry if we could research it some more then maybe…" began Hermione

"Hermione we don't have the time anymore." Said Harry "We know where Voldemort is right now, the protection around the stone isn't adequate enough to keep him out indefinitely until the Mirror of Erised is in place. With Dumbledore distracted by our disappearing act he could nick the stone a lot sooner than he did last time."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, that was the second time Harry had mentioned the possibility of the Mirror, both times he had been right.

"Maybe we should actually deal with the stone before we deal with my Scar?" said Harry

"What? Harry we just left Hogwarts." Said Ron

"I know but we need to head back soon. But first we need to do something about Rose. We were right to leave the castle while Voldemort was in their, considering all the things we need to do, we should probably get a baby sitter."

"A baby sitter?" asked Ron "Where the hell are we going to get a baby sitter?"

Harry smiled "Well tentatively I would suggest Remus."

Hermione and Ron's eyes bulged open "What? Remus?" asked Hermione "Why do you…"

"Well we're going to have to break Sirius out of Azkaban anyway so…"

"Harry stop slow down. Break Sirius out? Are you insane why do we need to..." said Ron

"The Locket." Said Harry

Ron's eyes darkened at the device that had so heavily poisoned his mind.

"The Locket is right now in Grimmauld Place, Grimmauld Place is currently warded so that only the heir to the House of Black can get in, that is currently Sirius. We can't do this without him."

Ron and Hermione suddenly understood Harry's reasoning.

Harry continued "I know the layout of Azkaban very well, the defences are mainly Dementors, and a few partially trained wizard guards, if we work together as a trio, we should be able to get him out."

"But Harry, how do you intend to convince Remus to help us. The second we approach him he could call Dumbledore for help." Said Hermione.

"I have a plan." Said Harry "We can show him the truth."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Remus Lupin lived in a small cottage in Lancashire, it had once belonged to his parents who had bought it after he got bitten. There was enough space, which was magically warded, for the wolf Remus to wander about once a month. He had for the last 10 years lived in complete self-isolation, taking jobs in both the Magical and Muggle worlds whenever possible. But right now he had a more pressing task. Harry Potter and two other 11-year-olds were missing and he had been recalled to Dumbledore in order to help find him. There was a meeting at Hogwarts in 3 hours and he was invited to attend.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "_Who could that be?_"

He went to see who could possibly want to see a werewolf in self-isolation and promptly discovered the son of his dead friend.

"Hello Remus, we need to talk." Said Harry

"What… how… why?" he stuttered

"Please do not alert anyone but I really need some help. Your help. Please can you come with me?" Harry said very calmly and very carefully.

Remus couldn't understand what was going on "Harry everyone's been looking for you where have you been. You should be at Hogwarts!"

"Remus please can you come with me and I'll explain. Know one else must know, the fate of the Wizarding World is in jeopardy."

Remus looked at Harry "Alright but I'll want a full explanation."

"You'll get it. But please come with me."

Remus nodded, he took his keys and locked the cottage, then followed Harry to the edge the territory.

Harry held out his arm.

Remus, assuming that Harry wanted to lead him somewhere on foot dumbly took the arm. The last thing he was expecting was for an 11-year-old to apparate him 50 miles to the North.

"What the… How on earth can you apparate, you're too young."

Harry smiled "That's what you said when you taught me the Patronus Charm."

"I… What… I never…"

"Not yet." Said Harry "There is so much I have to tell you Professor, starting with this: the Headquarters of the Golden Trio are located at Potter Manor."

To Lupin's shock the giant house he recognised from many years ago came into view. "That's… not… That's a Fidelius Charm? Who on earth…"

"Hermione!" said Harry "That Professor is on the long, long list of things that I need to explain but first we need to wait for her and her husband to get back."

"Husband, Hermione Weasley? But she's only 11."

"For now maybe but one day she'll grow up and marry Ron." Smiled Harry

"Harry you're making no sense."

Harry sighed "Sorry Remus, there is a lot to explain, and you're going to find it hard to believe." Harry opened the front door and led Remus to the lounge.

"This house is suppose to be sealed, I was told that all Potter assets were frozen until you came of age." Said Remus

"They were, by orders of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore and by Supreme Chancellor Ragnok of Gringotts bank, until I turned of age. However I asked the bank to unfreeze my assets yesterday and had Hermione form a Fidelius Charm in case Professor Dumbledore or anybody else tried to find us here. As you can probably tell we have put up other basic and not so basic protective wards as well. All of this is to give us some form of sanctuary."

"But Harry why?" begged Remus

Harry walked over to a cabinet and took out a pensieve. It was actually an old fruit bowl but Hermione had done some modifying to it last night and it was ready for use.

"This is a pensieve, I have about 7 years of memories to show you, a seven year long story. But it is not just my story I need to wait for Ron and Hermione to get back."

"Memories?" questioned Lupin, "Harry did you bring me here just to share the last 7 years of your life?"

Harry smiled again, that was beginning to irritate Remus "Not the last 7 years Remus the next 7 years. From when I was about 11 to shortly before I turned 18."

Remus's eyes widened "Harry? What are you saying?"

"I'm from the future Remus. Up until 3 nights ago for me and my best friends Ron and Hermione Weasley were living quite happily in August 2006, then we found this mirror." Harry indicated the Mirror of Emit on the coffee table "And ended up back in time to the night before the three of us first met."

Remus gaped at Harry, who placed his wand to his temple and began pouring contents into the Pensieve. "Before I let you see this I want you to meet Ron and Hermione. They also have someone they want to introduce you to."

Suddenly the wards reacted. Someone outside the secret had just tried to pass through the Fidelius.

Harry ran out of the house, Remus followed him. When Harry crossed the ward line he found Ron and Hermione lying in a crumpled heap on the ground with Rose crying at her sudden discomfort. But the three of them weren't alone. True they had brought who they were supposed to but a 5th person had also arrived.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Ron and Hermione stood on the hill overlooking the Burrow, Rose was snoozing in Hermione's arms.

"I see what Harry meant by needing a Babysitter." Said Hermione "I don't like putting a sleeping charm on my daughter."

"I'm not too fond of it myself, but if Wormtail get's spooked then…" said Ron

"Then you may need my help." said Hermione

"That and you're the better at magic. Also, when I woke up in this time… I don't know if I can deal with him…"

Hermione took hold of Ron's arm and squeezed it for comfort. "He will live this time round but he won't have a chance to get away. I'll perform the necessary charms, I just need you to get me through the Burrows wards, as I've not been added to the Family yet…"

"I know now let's take a look before we sneak in." said Ron They took out their telescopes that, while designed for astronomy lessons, could also be useful for spying. Ron and Hermione were outside the Weasley territory, they couldn't risk entering while someone was in the kitchen because the family clock would immediately register Ron as home. They had to make sure the kitchen was empty, then to run down to the house and deal with the clock and everything else.

"Ok!" said Hermione "I can see your Mum and someone else in the kitchen."

"Is it Dad, I thought he'd be at the ministry?" said Ron

"Ron you're missing, your parents probably want to spend time together right now, work be damned."

"Yeah but the search is being coordinated by the ministry, surely he'd want to stay close and help wherever possible." pondered Ron

"That's true!" said Hermione "I'll see if I can get a better idea of what's going on. Oh!"

"What?" asked Ron

"It's Charlie… his hairs been cut!" answered Hermione

"What again… oh that's right, back in time… Mum must have used her grief as an excuse to cut it again." Said Ron

"You must feel bad about causing all this grief."

"Not really Mum is always cutting Charlie's hair, he keeps growing it back, my departure won't affect that balance much."

"Ron I was talking about your mother." Scolded Hermione

"Oh right… Yeah I guess. If I'm honest I've been trying not to think about it." Said Ron sadly "But we've got to do this. Harry needs our help. I really screwed things up last time, there is no way I'm doing that again. Even if I have to wear the locket full-time."

"That may be Ronald but after having worn that locket the last time, I will use fiendfyre before I ever let you go through that again."

Ron smiled "Just as well Harry knows where to find a basilisk. Funny, hunting a basilisk is considered the smart thing to do. Anyway So Charlie is home, is Bill?"

"I'm not sure… Wait… Yes he's just entered the kitchen." Confirmed Hermione she scanned the rest of the Burrow and the grounds "…and there is Ginny, in the orchard!"

Ron adjusted his own telescope to find his sister. Ginny was absentmindedly picking apples from the trees. Ron knew that his sister when she was a preteen would resort to doing simple little tasks away from the rest of the family when she was really truly upset. When Bill left for Egypt she spent ages half-heartedly tossing Gnomes beyond the boundaries of the Burrow.

Mrs Weasley came out of the Burrow and called "Ginny, your brothers and I are going to Hogwarts to attend the meeting. Don't stay outside too late and don't leave the grounds alright?"

"Yes Mum!" came the squeaky voice of 10-year-old Ginny Weasley.

Ron turned to look at Hermione "Bloody hell I forgot what Ginny's voice was like when she was this age."

Hermione smiled "Well let's sneak down as soon as your mother is gone."

Through the Telescopes they witnessed Charlie, Bill and Mrs Weasley entered through the floo network. Then Ron and Hermione jogged down the path leading to the Burrow. They were careful to avoid the Orchard in case Ginny saw them. They opened the door and found the Weasley Clock.

"If we take your hand your Mum will notice. I'm going to try confounding it." Said Hermione. Ron nodded. The Confundus charm worked, the 'Ron' hand pointed to lost and stayed there.

"Great one love." Said Ron, then his face darkened "Let's go get the traitor!"

Hermione carried Rose up the stairs to Ron's attic Bedroom. Scabbers the rat was sound asleep in his cage. The present two-thirds of the Golden Trio glared at the one who had caused so much grief for the other third, not to mention so many others.

"I suggest you do it Hermione, I'm not sure I have the cool to do it properly." Said Ron.

Hermione, nodded and handed Rose to her father. Unfortunately the sleeping charm wore off and Rose woke up. She sensed her fathers increased hostilities, making her uncomfortable. Rose started crying and Ron immediately set about trying to calm her down. The crying woke Wormtail but it was too late for the animagus to do anything.

"_Infragilus! Duro!_" incanted Hermione, placing an unbreakable charm and a hardening charm on the cage, the latter to give added security. She then gave the rat her most hated glare "Alright Wormtail, once we've finished with you Sirius Black will be out of prison and we'll see to it that you rot in his cell." The rat begun to show obvious signs of panic "If you're lucky that is, we're about to reintroduce you to Moony, how do think he'll feel when he discovers that a certain someone is responsible for putting Harry's Godfather in prison."

Ron then stood in "I can't believe that I and my brother Percy were providing cheep lodgings for a Death Eater. Why bother with the other Marauders, Harry has an owl, I here they like their rodents."

The rat was really panicking now.

"Let's go love." Said Ron.

They had made it to the bottom of the stairs when all of a sudden they ran into an issue.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Ginny was absentmindedly picking Apples when her mother called her and told her she was going to a meeting with Bill and Charlie. She was really worried about her brother. But she took comfort in the fact that wherever he was he was with Harry Potter. Sure there was no guarantee that they were together but Ginny was absolutely convinced that they were. She was just thinking about the boy of her dreams when she heard what sounded like a baby cry from the upper floors of the Burrow. But that was impossible, there were no babies in the Weasley family at this time and she was the only one on the grounds. Right?

The inquisitive red-haired girl ran into the building to investigate. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she found her brother holding a baby that cooing at him and a bushy haired girl.

"Ronnie? What on earth are you doing here? You're supposed to be at School but you've been missing. Where have you been and who is that? And that?" said Ginny all at once.

"Oh sh…" began Ron

"Ronald Weasley don't you dare finish that word." Said Hermione, despite the fact that her shock was equal to those sentiments.

"Ginny!" began Ron, but he had no idea what to say "Could you please not tell anyone we've stopped by?"

"Are you kidding Ron? Mum, Dad and everyone are frantically worried about you. You need to stay here and wait for them to get back." Said Ginny in a childish voice befitting her current age, despite the fact that it was agitating her 11-year-old brother, who was really 26.

"Look Ginny Hermione and I need to go so if you'll…"

"Oooh! Ronnie has a girlfriend, Ronnie has a girlfriend!" sung Ginny

But Ron dragged Hermione and forced his way past his sister-from-hell-from-the-past and made his way outside with the traitor in the cage. But Ginny, like many bratty younger siblings, did not like been shoved aside. Ron and Hermione were standing outside of the Burrow holding hands. Ginny decided to jump on her brothers back and cling on. Unfortunately she chose to do it just as Ron and Hermione apparated.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry counted 5 people in amongst the pile of people. Ron, Hermione and daughter Rose made 3, the traitorous rat made 4 and 5…

"Ginny?" said Harry in disbelief

Ginny got herself up off the ground and looked at the new boy with spectacles and a lightening-shaped scar on his forehead. She gasped "Y… you're H… Harry Pot…"

Ginny suddenly found her words cut off by the boy of her dreams sticking his tongue down her throat.

Harry pulled back from the kiss, tears of joy in his eyes he pulled the mother of his children tightly into his arms, completely oblivious to the fact that she had neither the body nor memory of his wife. Little Ginny was far to enthralled in the moment to care, she had just been given her first kiss by the boy-who-lived.

"Harry… wait… stop!" said Hermione scrambling to her feet and trying to make sure Rose was alright. "Harry that's not the future Ginny it's Ron's 10-year-old sister!"

Harry suddenly pulled back. He looked at Ginny she was looking at him with both awe and surprise. "Not my Ginny?" said Harry, his heart felt crushed he thought he had his wife back. But this was not his wife.

"Harry I'm sorry, she caught us on the way out." Said Hermione "We didn't mean to bring her back."

"Mate, let her go!" said Ron calmly

Harry still had Ginny in his arms, he released her cautiously.

"Ron when did you learn to apparate and since when were you friends with Harry Potter and a girl?" asked Ginny, unhelpfully

"What are we suppose to do now?" said Harry looking at Ron and Hermione

"I'm sorry Harry but since Ginny is here I think it would be best if she stayed here." Said Hermione

Harry looked at Ron "Are you OK with that?"

"Me?" said Ron "She's your wife?"

"W…wife… of Harry Potter?" stuttered Ginny, things were really confusing.

"Not yet she's not. But she is still your sister." Said Harry who looked sadly at her.

Ron sighed "Harry I know right now Ginny is a bit of a brat…"

"Hey!" squealed Ginny

"But she will one day be your wife. Just bear in mind she's only ten and I'll let you make the decisions."

Harry nodded "Sorry Ginny." He said looking at her "I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm going to need to ask you to stay with us for a while."

Ginny had just been asked by Harry Potter to hang around for a while. How could she refuse "Sh…sure no problem!" she stuttered

Remus had been quietly observing what was going on between the children. However he was forced out of this silence by Harry's next question to the other 11-year-olds "Did you bring the traitor?"

"Yeah!" spat Ron "He's here!" holding up the cage "He's not getting out!" the rat was frantically trying to find a way out.

Remus looked at the rat "It can't be…"

"I'm afraid it is Remus!" said Hermione "I'm sorry but Sirius was framed."

"Framed? You mean that…"

"Yes!" said Harry "Wormtail here is the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort. He also cast that curse that killed the muggles. During the standoff with Sirius."

"Harry we should get under the wards." Said Hermione

"Right!" said Harry. He looked at Ginny and Wormtail "The headquarters of the Golden Trio are located at Potter Manor."

To Ginny's surprise a giant mansion appeared before her.

"Everyone under the wards!" said Harry,

He led the others back into the lounge.

"Right I guess we'll also have to tell Ginny. But I see no reason the traitor needs to know what's going on." He took the cage from Ron, put it inside a cupboard and then placed a silencing charm on the door.

"Right, as I started explained to Remus: Ron, Hermione and I are from the future. For us a few days ago was 2006."

Ginny looked at Harry like he was nuts, "Wait you kissed me so does that mean…"

Ron cut her off "Are the memories ready?"

"Yes!" said Harry "Right up until I put the wand back in the tomb." He then turned to Ginny and Remus "If you are willing, this Pensieve contains memories from shortly before I was 11 until when I was a little under 18, I'd like for you both to see them."

Ginny looked at the man that "Um sorry but who are you?"

Remus smiled at the girl "I'm Remus Lupin, I was a close friend of Harry parents."

"I'm Ginny, I'm Ron's sister. I also think I mean something to Harry?" she looked at Harry

"Well let's find out." Said Remus Ginny nodded

Harry smiled at them both. He really missed them both, for different reasons of course but now they were going to understand why.

"This will take a fair few hours." Said Harry "Reserve all your judgements until the end of the cycle, if you can."

Remus and Ginny entered the Pensieve and were immediately faced with an event a couple of months before Harry's 11th Birthday.

"_Up! Get up! Now!"_

…

"_36 that's two less than last year!"_

…

"_Make him Move!"_

…

"_Cupboard! No meals!"_

…

"_Get the mail Dudley!"_

"_Make Harry get it!"_

…

"_No Post on Sundays"_

…

"_Yer a Wizard Harry!"_

…

"_Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me!"_

…

"_Welcome Harry to Diagon Alley_

…

"_What's in there Hagrid?"_

"_Can' tell ya tha Harry."_

…

"_It is curious that you are destined for this wand, when its brother – why its brother gave you that scar."_

…

"_Packed with Muggles of course."_

…

"_Ron Weasley."_

…

"_I'm Hermione Granger."_

…

"_You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."_

…

"_Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!"_

…

"_That's Professor Snape. Head of Syltherin House!"_

…

"_Mr Potter. Our new celebrity."_

…

"_I have found you a seeker!"_

…

"_It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."_

…

"_It's no wonder no one can stand her, she's a nightmare honestly."_

"_I think she heard you."_

"_So? She must have noticed she's got no friends."_

…

"_Troll in the dungeon!"_

…

"…_not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You will each win five points."_

…

"_It's Snape, he's jinxing the broom."_

…

"_Wha' tha' dog is guardin' is strictly between Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel."_

…

"_Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A very Merry Christmas to you."_

…

"_Mum? Dad?"_

…

"_I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."_

…

"_Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosophers Stone."_

…

"_Charlie – Your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying Dragons. We could send Norbert to him."_

…

"…_and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."_

"_Fifty?"_

"_Fifty points each."_

…

"_Harry everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around You-Know-Who won't touch you."_

…

"…_jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep – I shouldn'ta told ya that!"_

…

"_I'll use the invisibility cloak, It's just lucky I got it back."_

"_But will it cover all three of us?"_

"_All – all three of us?"_

"_Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"_

…

"_That's chess! You've got to make sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me – that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"_

…

"_Books and Cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!"_

…

"_You!"_

"_Me"_

…

"_He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead."_

…

"_Let me speak to him face to face"_

…

"_The stone has been destroyed."_

…

"_Your Mother died to save you, if there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love."_

…

"_There he is, Mum, there he is, look! Harry Potter! Look, Mum, I can see…"_

"_Be quiet, Ginny and it's rude to point."_

…

"_Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts this year."_

…

"_How do you know that my friends haven't been writing to me?"_

…

"_So – we'll get your trunk – you grab anything you need from your room and hand it out to Ron."_

…

"_Petunia! He's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY!"_

…

_Bed's empty! No note! Car gone… could have crashed… out of my mind with worry… did you care?... Never as long as I lived…"_

…

"_Ginny. My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."_

"_Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry."_

…

"_Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night! What have you got to say about that, eh?"_

"_Did you really? Did it go all right?"_

…

_You been told to get Lockharts books too!"_

…

"_D-Dia-gon Alley."_

…

"_Harry! We'd hoped you'd only gone one grate too far…"_

…

"_It can't be Harry Potter!"_

…

"…_What's the use in being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"_

…

"_Here, girl – take your book – it's the best your father can give you"_

…

"_Why can't we get through?"_

"_I dunno"_

…

"_MIND THAT TREE!"_

…

"_STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU"_

…

"_I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them."_

…

"_No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."_

…

"_Come… come to me… let me rip you… let me tear you… let me kill you…."_

…

_THE CHAMER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE._

…

"_Let's think, who do we know who thinks Muggle-Borns are scum?"_

"_If you're talking about Malfoy –"_

"_Of course I am"_

…

"_I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."_

"_A month?"_

…

"_I can mend bones in a second – but growing them back…"_

"_You will be able to won't you?"_

…

"_It means that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed open again."_

…

"_Serpensortia!"_

…

"_You're a Parselmouth."_

…

"_ATTACK! ATTACK ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES ATTAAAACK!"_

…

"_Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flames when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes."_

…

"_I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."_

…

"_But I know one thing: last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened a mudblood died. So I bet it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time… I hope it's Granger."_

…

"_Hello Harry Potter, my name is Tom Riddle."_

…

"_It was Hagrid, Ron. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."_

…

"_Hermione"_

"_They were found near the library"_

…

"…_Help will always be given to those at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."_

…

"_I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveller gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg."_

…

"_What if she never left that bathroom? What if she's still there?"_

…

"_Ron, this is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a Basilisk – a giant serpent!"_

…

"_Who is it? Whose been taken?"_

"_Ginny Weasley."_

…

"_The adventure ends here, boys! I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. Say goodbye to your memories!"_

…

_TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE_

_I AM LORD VOLDEMORT_

…

"_Phoenix tears… of course… healing powers… I forgot…"_

…

"_What interests me most, is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."_

…

"… _It is our choices Harry that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."_

…

"_Go on, boy, go on Proud of your parents, are you? They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect)…"_

…

"_Welcome to the knight bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard."_

…

"_He's at Hogwarts… He's at Hogwarts Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead."_

…

"_What was that thing?"_

"_A dementor!"_

…

"_I bet you're not dangerous at all are you? Are you, you ugly great Brute?"_

…

"_Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black!"_

…

"_They named him Godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course."_

…

"_Because I thought – and Professor McGonagall agrees with me – that that broom was probably sent to Harry by Sirius Black!"_

…

"_HE'S GONE, AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"_

…

"_Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul – you evil…"_

"_Hermione!"_

"_Get off, Ron!"_

…

"_It will happen tonight. The dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again and with his servants aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight… before midnight… the servant… will set out to rejoin his master…"_

…

"_If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!"_

…

"_Peter Pettigrew's dead! He killed him twelve years ago!"_

"_I meant to, but little Peter got the better of me… not this time though!"_

…

"_You should have realised, if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."_

"_NO!"_

…

"_It's called a time turner,"_

…

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

…

"_It's a letter from my godfather."_

"_Godfather? You haven't got a godfather!"_

"_Yes I have. He was my Mum and Dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though… keep up with my news… check I'm happy…"_

…

"_Mr Weasley, the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."_

"_Damn! What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"_

"_They've got an electric fire."_

"_Really?"_

…

"_Did he eat it?"_

"_Yeah, what was it?_

"_Ton-Tongue Toffee, George and I invented them, we've been looking for someone to test it on all summer…"_

…

"_You'll need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do."_

…

"_Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"_

…

"_MORSMORDRE!"_

…

"_It is my very Great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."_

…

"_Now… those three curses – Avada Kedavra, Imperius and Cruciatus – are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban."_

…

"_Harry Potter! Harry! Up here if you please!"_

…

"_This is a Hungarian Horntail!"_

…

"_Accio Firebolt"_

…

""_Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor. Only this morning, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots."_

…

"_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And recover what we took,_

_But past an hour – the prospect's black_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."_

…

"_The Dark Lord will rise again Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban, we will wait! He will rise again and will come to us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"_

…

"_Both of us."_

"_What?"_

"_We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."_

…

"_Kill the spare."_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

…

"_Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son! Flesh – of the servant – w-willingly given – you will – revive – your master. Blood of the Enemy… Forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe."_

…

"_I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it."_

…

"_Expelliarmus!"_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

…

"_He's back. He's back. Voldemort."_

…

"_I don't know what you and your staff are playing at Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."_

…

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

…

"_The Severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

…

"_And this is Nymphadora…"_

"_Don't call me Nymphadora Remus. It's Tonks."_

…

"_Well, they're writing about you as if you're this deluded attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something."_

…

"_Very well, very well… cleared of all charges."_

…

"_Hi, Luna, is it OK if we take these seats?"_

…

"_I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"_

…

"_You don't know what it's like! You – neither of you – you've never had to face him, have you?"_

…

"_Umbridge has been reading your mail, Harry. There's no other explanation."_

"_You think Umbridge attacked Hedwig?"_

"_I'm almost certain of it."_

…

"_It is known by us as the Come and Go room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!"_

…

"_The Defence Association? The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?_

"_Yeah the DA's good. Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"_

…

"_Well. How was it?"_

"_Wet."_

…

"_Your dad. He's been bitten, it's serious, there was blood everywhere…"_

…

"_Oh my goodness, Professor Lockhart!"_

"_Well, hello there! I expect you'd like my autograph, would you?"_

"_Hasn't changed much, has he?"_

…

"_The Headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term."_

…

"_MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN"_

…

"_People have written to me because I gave an interview. About what happened last June."_

"_An interview? What do you mean?"_

"_I mean a reporter asked me questions and I answered tem. Here…"_

"_When did you do this?"_

"_Last Hogsmeade weekend"_

…

"_WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!"_

…

"_You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus…"_

"_I don't need help from a filthy Mudblood like her!"_

…

"_I'm afraid I don't quite understand how you can give Mr Potter false hope that…"_

"_False hope? He has achieved high marks in all his Defence Against the Dark Arts tests…"_

"_I'm terribly sorry to contradict you, Minerva, but as you will se from my note, Harry has been achieving very poor results in his classes with me…"_

"_I should have made my meaning plainer. He has achieved high marks in all Defence Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher."_

…

"_Oh, Bravo. Very good indeed! Well I think that's all, Potter… unless… I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that you can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point…?_

_Expecto Patronum!"_

…

"_Voldemort's got Sirius."_

…

"_What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him. He never knew I ordered Dementors to go after Potter last summer but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same."_

…

"_Where is Sirius?"_

…

"_SIRIUS! SIRIUS!"_

"_There's nothing you can do, Harry…"_

…

"_Kill me Dumbledore… if Death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"_

…

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal but he will have power the Dark Lord Knows not… and either must die by the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

…

"_I think I I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up… it always does in the end… well, have a nice holiday, Harry."_

"_Yeah… yeah, you too."_

…

"_Are you threatening me, sir?_

"_Yes I am,"_

"_And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?"_

"_Well… Yes I'd say you do, Dursley."_

…

"_I ask only this: that you allow Harry to return once more to this house, before his seventeenth birthday, which will ensure the protection continues until that time."_

…

"_I tell you this, not to turn you against Horace – or, as we must now call him, Professor Slughorn – but to put you on your guard. He will undoubtedly try to collect you Harry. You would be the jewel of his collection: the Boy Who Lived… or, as they call you these days, the Chosen One."_

…

"_Knew you'd top Defence Against the Dark Arts. We've done all right haven't we?"_

"_Well done! Seven O.W.L's, that's more than Fred and George got together!"_

…

"_You are cool. None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me."_

"_That's a very nice thing to say."_

…

"_This Book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince"_

…

"_This time, you enter the Pensieve with me… and, even more unusually, with permission."_

…

"_I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor."_

…

"_Did you know – then?"_

"_Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time? No, I had no idea that he was to grow up to be what he is."_

…

"_Harry's snogged Cho Chang, and Hermione snogged Viktor Krum, it's only you acts like its something disgusting, Ron and that's because you've got as much experience as a twelve-year-old!"_

…

"_Oppugno!"_

…

"_I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco…"_

…

"_Dumbledore's man through and through, aren't you Potter?"_

"_Yeah, I am. Glad we straightened that out."_

…

"_As you may have noticed, that memory has been tampered with."_

…

"…_and then I got a bezoar down his throat and his breathing eased up a bit,"_

…

"_Helga Hufflepuff's, as you very well know you clever boy! Didn't I tell you I was distantly descended?"_

…

"_Trust me I know what I'm doing… or at least… Felix does."_

…

"_A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."_

…

"_Cruci…"_

"_SECTUMSEMPRA!"_

…

"…_Romilda Vane asked me if it's true you've got a hippogriff tattooed across your chest."_

"_What did you tell her?_

"_I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail, Much more macho."_

…

"_The lightening-struck tower. Calamity, Disaster. Coming nearer all the time."_

…

"_Don't hurt them, don't hurt them, please, please, it's my fault, hurt me instead."_

…

"_Severus… please…"_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

…

"_You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them – I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so… no!"_

…

"…_He didn't want me to tell anyone."_

"_Potter in light of Professor Dumbledore's death I think you must see that the situation has changed somewhat…"_

"_I don't think so. Professor Dumbledore never told me to stop following his orders if he died."_

…

"_I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much."_

…

"_You said to us once before, that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"_

"_We're with you whatever happens."_

…

"_We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all protection your mother gave you."_

…

"_No – HEDWIG!"_

…

"_Mad-Eye's dead."_

…

"_So I thought, I'd like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some Veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing."_

"_I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest."_

"_There's the silver lining I've been looking for."_

…

"_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."_

…

"_I'd never have believed this, the man who taught me to fight Dementors – a coward."_

…

"_I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place?"_

"_Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to go back there."_

…

"_Then GO. Go back to them, pretend you've got over your spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up and…"_

…

"_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."_

…

"_Where's my wand Hermione?"_

…

"_I have seen your heart, and it is mine."_

"_Don't listen to it! Stab it!"_

"_I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible…"_

…

"_Hermione! Calm…"_

"_I will not calm down! Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!"_

"_Hermione, will you please…"_

"_Don't you dare tell me what to do, Harry Potter!"_

…

"_The Elder Wand. The Resurrection Stone! The Cloak of Invisibility! Together the Deathly Hallows."_

…

"_Vol…"_

"_HARRY, NO!"_

"…_demort's after the Elder Wand!"_

…

"_Dobby, no, don't die, don't die…"_

"_Harry… Potter…"_

…

"_I need to break into a Gringotts vault."_

…

"_Yes… Yes… a boy. You'll be Godfather?"_

"_M…me?"_

"_You, yes, of course… Dora quite agrees, no one better…"_

…

"_Relashio! This way!"_

"_Harry… Harry… What are you doing?"_

"_Get up, climb up, come on…"_

…

"_He knows. He knows, and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one, is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I knew it._

…

"_Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it remember, Harry? The lost Diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."_

…

"_We shall secure the school against He Who Must Not Be Named while you search for this – this object."_

"_Is that Possible?"_

"_I think so, we teachers are rather good at magic, you know."_

…

"_And now – piertotum locomotor! Hogwarts is threatened! Man the boundaries, protect us, do you duty to our school!"_

…

_They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised. We're fighting."_

…

"_I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I don not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."_

…

"_I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobbys, do we? We can't order them to die for us…"_

…

"_You're joking, Perce! You are actually joking, Perce…. I don't think I've heard you joke since you were…"_

…

"_You are a clever man, after all Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen."_

…

"_Take… it… Take… it"_

…

"_The Prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of boy born at the end of July…"_

…

"_You have used me."_

"_Meaning?"_

"_I have spied for you, and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter…"_

"_But this is touching, Severus, have you grown to care for the boy, after all?"_

"_For him? Expecto Patronum!"_

"_After all this time?"_

"_Always."_

…

"_I was, it seems… mistaken."_

"_You weren't."_

…

"_It looks, like Kings Cross station. Except a lot cleaner, and empty, and there are no trains as far as I can see."_

…

"_Tell me one last thing. Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"_

"_Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"_

…

"_Harry Potter is Dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."_

…

"_NOT MY DAUGHETER, YOU BITCH!"_

…

"_So it all comes down to this, doesn't it? Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does… I am the true master of the Elder Wand."_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

…

_That Wand's more trouble than it's worth, and quite honestly I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."_

* * *

><p>Hope you liked the timeline made.<p>

I have been debating with myself for a while whether to include Ginny, aged 10 or 25, in this story. This is and shall continue to be a "Golden Trio" story so i didn't want to add an older Ginny. This way Harry has the one he loves more than anyone else, before he actually fell in love with her.

The next chapter is going to be rather fun to write. That's all I'll say for now.


	7. Just like Old Times

I've been waiting months to be able to write this chapter. So please Review.

* * *

><p><em>Listening to Beethoven's Third Symphony - the Eroica<em>

Chapter 7: Just like Old Times

Ginny and Remus Lupin came out of the pensieve just as the memory Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room. She threw her arms around the man she had only just met earlier today.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

Remus was pale but he absentmindedly stroked the back of the little girl's hair.

"Hey." said a voice quietly from the side.

Remus and Ginny turned. It was Harry.

"The two of you have been in there for hours now, Ron is making dinner and Hermione is changing Rose." He said studying them carefully

Remus quick marched across the room and pulled Harry into a tight hug. Ginny followed soon after.

"I'm so sorry Harry." Said Remus "I can't believe it. I had a son. Is he?"

Harry looked at Remus "He's not a werewolf. He asks about you and Tonks often. But he's doing fine. Where I come from he's 8-years-old, he mainly lives with Tonks' Mum: Andromeda but he's stays with me and Ginny about three times a week."

"Me and Ginny?" said Ginny "Does that mean?"

Harry turned and smiled at her "What you choose to do in the future, who you choose to love is for you to decide. But yes, in the future we are married. Where I come from we have a son: James Sirius, and a second child due any day now."

Ginny squealed in excitement "I'm going to marry Harry Potter! Does this mean you came back to me?"

"I saw you the day after I woke up at the end of that." Harry pointed at the pensieve

"Did you ask me back?"

"You didn't let me say anything." Said Harry

"Why not? Surely I must have let you explain yourself?"

"Well at that point you were just glad that I was alive, I don't think we've ever been lip locked as long since."

Ginny blushed.

Harry had them all sit down "After the battle the Kingsley became acting Minister for Magic, he was made permanent about 2 weeks later. Hermione went back to school to take the year she missed and Ron and I entered the Auror academy. Ron also worked alongside George for a few months so he…" Harry couldn't finish.

"Was Georgie alright?" asked Ginny

"He was never the same again… but he was alright." Said Harry. "He married his brothers ex, Angelina Johnston, our brief quidditch captain. He has a son called Frederick George Weasley, he's about the same age as our son. Angelina is also pregnant with another right now."

Ginny's eyes were beginning to water. "What about everyone else?"

Harry smiled "Well as you can see Ron and Hermione are now together. It is weird to see Ron so… mature… especially after all our time in school. Rose was born just a few days ago. Percy continued in the minister's office and is now undersecretary to Kingsley. He married a librarian called Audrey Williamson and last year, from our point of view, had a daughter: Molly. I've never seen him so… unPercy like when he holds that little girl in his arms. Bill and Fleur had a daughter who was born on the second anniversary of the Battle. They named her Victoire, she is Teddy's best friend and she has vowed to marry him one day."

There was a round of chuckles.

"Bill and Fleur have also since had another daughter and a son: Dominique was born at the end of 2001 and Louis at the end of 2003, he is the same age as Fred and James. We're all worried they'll form some kind of Golden Trio/Marauder hybrid when they get to Hogwarts, still no Weasley's or Potters currently teach so at least it will be Professor McGonagall's problem."

"And what about Charlie?" asked Ginny

"Charlie…" said Harry, "never married. There are apparently laws against humans marrying dragons so he's settling for spending all his time as a bachelor with Norberta."

Ginny laughed "This is incredible, I can't believe this is all going to happen."

Harry's face became serious "It's not. Well I'd like to think some of it will, but Voldemort will die soon."

Ginny flinched at the use of the name.

"Harry what do you mean?" asked Remus

"We think that the mirror sent us back so we could stop Voldemort at this point in time. We tried talking to the mirror, it seems to have some limited sentience, when we asked how to get back to the present it showed us images of how Voldemort died in our time, the position he's in this time and it showed the three of us: the Golden Trio. We think that if we complete our task again this timeline will not have to suffer the Second War and we can go back to our future."

Remus' eyes widened "Do you think you can do it?"

"We think so." Said Hermione from the doorway holding Rose "Ron says dinner will be ready in about half an hour." She went over to sit next to Harry.

"Is that… my niece?" asked Ginny excitedly.

Hermione nodded "You want to hold her?"

Ginny nodded enthusiastically and took hold of the red-haired baby. Rose must have recognized at least some of Ginny from the future because she immediately started gurgling happily and contently, there had been too many anomalies lately for the infant to understand.

"I guess this makes you my sister in-law? From what I saw in Harry's memories it was about time." Said Ginny

Hermione smiled "Yes we were both painfully slow in that regard."

"Yes you were and I was caught in the middle." Said Harry

"You're never going to let that go are you?" said Hermione

"Nope!" smirked Harry and pulled her into a hug.

"Harry!" said Remus desperately "Do you have a plan to kill Voldemort?"

Harry looked at his former Defence Professor "We know what we have to do, but plan, that's slightly harder."

"The most immediate thing we need to do." Said Hermione "Will require Harry, Ron and I to go out into a potentially dangerous situation. That's why we came to get you. We need someone to babysit Rose."

"You can also babysit Ginny!" said Harry

"Oi!" said Ginny

Harry looked at her "Ginny you are 10-years-old and don't even own your own wand. I am glad that you are here, really I am. But you need to know what you're doing in this kind of situation."

Ginny frowned and grumbled.

Harry went and sat next to her and awkwardly hugged her, as Rose was still in her arms, and kissed her temple. "I do love you Ginny…" Harry hesitated, remembering his wife was currently ten, "But the Ginny you saw in that memory has to grow up first. OK?"

"OK!" said Ginny dejectedly

Harry smiled and kissed her forehead. "Now let's see how Ron is doing, and I'll tell you what the three of us are doing tomorrow."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

It was six o'clock in the morning when Harry, Ron and Hermione, in hairy dwarf disguise made their way down Diagon Alley. They first entered the apothecary and picked up some potions supplies which Hermione deposited in her bag, then they hurried to an alcove near Ollivanders.

"Harry are you sure about this?" asked Ron

"Ron you know as well as I do that this will give us an advantage. And there is no reason why Ginny can't be prepared just in case."

Ron nodded "I appreciate it mate."

Harry smiled through his beard, thanks to the glamours no one knew who they were. Once they were sure no one was around they hurriedly deactivated the glamours and transfigured their clothes. They had to be quick.

The three of them rushed straight into the wand shop without anyone seeing who they were. Once inside they quickly put locking and silencing charms on the door, just as the old wand-maker made himself visible.

"Well now this is a surprise!" he found himself on the receiving end of three of his own creations.

"Don't move and you will not be harmed!" said Harry

Ollivander frowned, what was Potter doing and who was he with… "_The other two missing students._"

Hermione kept her wand trained on Ollivander.

"Accio!" said Harry

"Accio!" said Ron

Ollivander watched in complete perplextion as two wands from his shelves flung themselves to the two boys.

Harry and Ron checked them. Ron's wand and Ginny's wand from the previous timelines had been found, no more having to use second hand wands.

"Yup this is the one!" said Harry

"Same here!" said Ron

"Might I ask what is going on?" said Ollivander

"How much are the wand holsters?" asked Harry

Ollivander looked at the boy with the brother wand of that of the Dark Lords. "They're 1 Galleon each but why…"

Ron picked up six of them, while Harry counted out the money "Ten Holsters plus 2 wands is 24 Galleons correct?"

"Yes but…"

Harry placed 50 Galleons on the counter "you'll get double as my apology for this unfortunate but necessary intrusion. I'd ask you not to call the authorities but I sincerely doubt you're going to comply so we'll just say goodbye… and I'm sorry but could you lie down?"

Ollivander did as asked.

"_Pertrificus Totalus!_"

Ollivander froze.

"I'm really very sorry about this, it should wear off in about five minutes. Goodbye!" said Harry

The three immediately ran out of the shop and into the alcove and apparated back to Potter Manor.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry, Ron and Hermione were just popping in and out. They dropped their stuff off at the Manor, said a quick hi to Remus and Ginny, then under disillusionment charms apparated away again.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Golden Trio appeared behind Honeydukes sweet shop again. This time the shopkeepers were present, as were a handful of customers. However the three of them still managed sneak into the basement without being seen. Unfortunately it was dark and both Harry and Ron accidentally stubbed their toes

"OW!" said Ron loudly

"Ssh! someone will hear you." Scolded Hermione.

They heard footsteps upstairs and hurried into the passage, shutting the trapdoor behind them.

"Let's hope no one heard us." Said Harry

"Sorry!" said Ron

"Let's not worry about a sweet shop now. We have a shitload of tasks to do and we have to do them without being seen or hospitalized." Said Harry "Now come on!"

After a few minutes they made it to the one-eyed witch on the third floor in the Defence Against the Dark Arts Tower. After checking the coast was clear Harry said "Remember complete your tasks then get to the Astronomy tower. If you get into trouble, try sending a patronus. Good luck!"

"Good luck!" said Hermione

"Good luck!" said Ron

Under their disillusionment charms they separated. Knowing that each of them was about to undertake a very difficult task but secure in the knowledge that it had all been done before.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry hurried over to the First Floor. It was still only seven and Breakfast had just started. He knew that Dumbledore would likely still be in the castle because Remus told him a meeting was held the previous night.

Harry arrived just as Dumbledore was leaving his office. He immediately stayed out of his way, so as not to be spotted. Thankfully Dumbledore began marching in the other direction… towards the great hall. Harry hurried towards the Headmasters office. Unfortunately the stairs had reset so Harry had to go through the Honeydukes itinerary to be able to gain access.

"Chocolate Frogs! Pumpkin Pasties! Liquorice wands!"

Nothing.

"Sherbet Lemon! Fizzing Whizbees! Bertie Botts Every Flavour beans!"

Still nothing!

"Sugar Quills! Chocoballs! Cauldron Cakes!" the Gargoyle opened.

Harry sighed in relief. He climbed the stairs and entered the Headmasters office.

"Who are you?"

"What are you doing here?"

"How did you get in?"

Demanded the various portraits of the previous headmasters and headmistresses.

Harry ignored them, he was on a tight schedule and he didn't know how long it would take for Dumbledore to come back from breakfast.

He looked at Fawkes, lacking time to explain he respectfully bowed to the creature in hopes that it wouldn't suddenly become hostile. Fawkes seemed to consider him for a moment. Then, for whatever reason he seemed to trust that Harry meant no ill and trilled a calming melody indicating that Harry was trusted enough to enter unopposed. He used two summoning charms.

"Accio cloak!" the invisibility cloak, that was also one of the Deathly Hallows, came to its master.

"How did you manage that!" demanded a Headmistress, but again Harry ignored her and cast another summoning charm.

"Accio Hat!"

The Sorting Hat flew down toward the summoner who caught it.

"Mr Potter I seem to have missed you this year?"

"You did but I need your help, please give me what I need?" asked Harry

"Mr Potter I'm not sure what you…"

But then Harry put the hat on.

"…Well now I wasn't expecting that!" said the sorting hat in surprise.

All the portraits had shut up, something was obviously going on.

"Please I need your help. And your silence. You can see what's at stake."

The hat was silent for a few seconds. Then "Good luck Mr Potter!"

"Ow! Bloody hell how about a warning next time!" said Harry pulling the Sword of Gryffindor out of the hat, much to the amazement of the surrounding portraits.

"Next time Mr Potter, I hope this isn't going to become a habit."

"You've seen the inside of my head, it's already a habit! _Depulso!"_ he banished the hat back to its shelf.

"Good luck Harry Potter!" it yelled, just as Harry ran out of the office, making good use of his fathers new cloak.

Harry ran away from the Headmasters Office upstairs to the second floor. He was just outside where his next destination was but he needed something else before he proceeded. He conjured up a cage and set it on the ground. He then tried to open a window but gave it up as a bad job.

"_Reducto!_" the glass shattered

From the now broken window Harry could see Hagrid's hut, but more importantly the chicken coop.

"Accio Rooster!" there was a great cry throughout the air as one of the Hogwarts roosters found itself involuntarily flying across the grounds and through a second floor window that seemed to have been shattered specifically for this purpose.

Once the Rooster had landed in the corridor Harry banished it into his newly conjured cage and then carried it into his next destination: Moaning Myrtles bathroom.

"Who's there? You're a boy what are you doing in here?" demanded the sentimentally sensitive ghost.

"Sorry I'm just passing through." Said Harry, he faced the sink that hid the place that had caused so much grief in his second year "_Open!_"

To Myrtles shock and lack of understanding the sink did open, revealing the passage that led to the Chamber of Secrets.

Cheekily Harry grinned at the ghost "Wish me luck!" and jumped.

A minute or so later he landed at the base of the tunnel. Unlike last time the there were not as many rat bones and the ones there had obviously not been disturbed in the fifty years since the Chamber was last opened. Harry made his way with the rooster along the tunnel. He noticed that the snakes skin was also absent. The Basilisk was in hibernation. Then they arrived at the sealed door to the inner chamber, which was unsealed with another "_Open!_" and Harry then had to face probably his hardest task of the day. He got as close to the Salazar statue as he dared, set the cage on the ground and pointed his wand above the cage, then, facing the mouth said the words that Tom Riddle's soul piece would have said next year "_Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!_"

The mouth opened and Harry shut his eyes when was sure the entire head was out he incanted "_Flipendo!_" Although Harry couldn't see it, his wand spurted red sparks above the rooster causing the poor creature to screech in fright. In response to the shrieking the snake screamed in agony. The call of the rooster magically stopped its heart and brain from functioning. The serpent lay on the ground. Dead.

Harry opened his eyes to confirm it was dead. Then he lifted the Sword of Gryffindor and ran the blade against its fangs. To follow up he took off his rucksack and extracted a carrier Hermione had prepared earlier.

Aiming his wand at the head of the Basilisk Harry incanted "_Reducto!_" and several of its fangs came loose. He pulled a total of 11 fangs out and wrapped them in the carrier. He placed the carrier in his rucksack and took out series of six phials. Using a pair of potions gloves he began extracting venom into the phials for Hermione's solution to the Horcrux in his scar.

His work finished Harry took the rooster and returned to the entrance of the Chamber. Pointing his wand up at the tunnel, he incanted "_Acendio!_" and soared upwards along with the rooster, who was screeching worse than ever in the fright of being levitated so rapidly.

Harry landed on his feet and left the Rooster cage outside the bathroom, someone would find it later on and return it to Hagrid.

Using his Dad's cloak he made his way up to the Astronomy Tower. It was difficult, especially with everyone making their way to and from the common rooms and the Great Hall, but he eventually got there, early in the morning no one ever ventured to the Astronomy tower so hanging around at the base of the stairs was the best place to hang around when you weren't suppose to.

He hung around waiting in silence. Then he noticed a distortion join him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ron? Hermione? Is that you." He whispered.

The distortion faded and Ron Weasley could be seen. "Harry? Where are you?"

"Under here!" Harry opened the Cloak so Ron could see him

"Summoning charm work then?" said Ron as he joined Harry

"Yeah! Looks like our theory worked, did you get it?" asked Harry

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Ron left the one-eyed witch as his wife and his brother in-law went to complete there own tasks. Ron understood the importance of what he was about to do. Voldemort could not be allowed to get the Philosophers Stone. He had to be stopped at any cost, even if this meant that Ron and his friends would loose there knowledge of Voldemort's location. But if Ron was successful no one would know about what he was going to do, and Voldemort could die before he found out. So long as he didn't try to get the stone before Harry could kill him. One way or another Ron was getting that Stone.

He arrived at the end of the Forbidden Third Floor corridor.

"_Alohomora!_" he said with his new/old wand that he had gotten from Ollivander this morning. The door opened and Ron entered coming face to face with the Cerberus.

"Hello Fluffy!" he said and conjured a toy Xylophone that started playing a dodgy version of the Dam Busters theme.

Fluffy shut all six of his eyes and fell asleep. Thankfully he didn't fall on the trapdoor so Ron opened it and pointed his wand down below "_Incendio!_" bluebell flames struck the Devils Snare at the bottom of the pit. After a few minutes Ron could smell the rotting plant and jumped down. "_Aresto Momentum!_" he incanted to compensate for the lack of a 'soft landing'. He landed on what remained of Professor Sprout's vines and then made his way to the next protection.

Instead of flying like he and the others did last time Ron simply summoned the key, remembering what it looked like. He opened the door and proceeded to what was truly his type of challenge.

With it just him this time, Ron took the position of the King and used all the other pieces to there greatest potential, without having to worry about Harry or Hermione. McGonagall's drones didn't stand a chance: "Rook to C1! Checkmate!" the other king took off his crown and stood aside to let Ron pass.

Now he was entering unfamiliar territory. But thanks to Harry and Hermione he knew what to expect next and with his good wand, he was ready.

He kicked the door to the next room open and immediately set eyes on the Troll. Harry was right it was even larger than the one that started off the Golden Trio's friendship. The troll roared and started to charge towards its ginger-haired prey.

"_Confringo!_" The explosion curse hit the troll right in the chest. The shear force of Ron's chosen wand meant that the explosion passed right through the trolls back. It fell over, leaving a smell far more horrible than any other troll Ron had encountered. In either timeline.

"Blimey Harry!" said Ron. Thinking of nothing else to say he proceeded to the Potions test.

Ron and Harry were never ones to admit being Potions prodigies, omitting Harry's sixth year of course, however there skills had improved significantly when compared to there first year. Ron easily identified to two potions he needed. He drank one and then entered the final room. Only there was no mirror this time round.

Ron was truly in unknown territory now, he looked around. There was a box in the centre of the room, but Ron was not an ignorant 11-year-old anymore he was a 26-year-old fully qualified Auror inside the body of an ignorant 11-year-old. He knew that there was a good chance that there were some spells on the chest. He was also aware that the previous challenges were not suppose to be impossible for Harry to overcome. He knew that this challenge was not meant to allow the stone to fall into the hands of anyone.

He cast a series of detection charms. A large variety of colours all across the spectrum came up. The chest was so heavily warded Ron knew it could take hours. Bearing that in mind he got started. Given his knowledge of Albus Dumbledore he knew that the old man liked to use simple but nonetheless highly effective methods. The trick with the Mirror of Erised was proof enough of that. Preparing for the worst Ron muttered the counter curses for the alarm charms, no sense in anyone upstairs getting alerted to his presence.

Suddenly a red flash shot itself at Ron. The more active protections were reacting against him. Ron recognised it as a Sentry Protection spell, very difficult to overcome, unless you knew how. A gold transparent hand sticking out of the chest fired the red flash from its palm. Ron had recognised the flash as a Flagrante Curse.

He aimed his wand at the palm and fired his own Flagrante Curse "_Comburet_!" The hand absorbed it and fired another flash. This time a Reductor curse came shooting at him. Ron rolled on the ground and fired his own again, "_Reducto!_" resulting in no apparent effect.

"That's two!"

The hand targeted him again, this time with a blasting curse and again Ron responded "_Expulso!_" Then came a cutting curse and Ron again matched the spell "_Circumdatos!_" The fifth spell was a stinging hex. Again Ron dodged and again he matched the hand "_Fodio!_" When the stinging hex hit the hand this time however the hand shrunk back.

"That was easy!" said Ron "Too easy!" and sure enough the hand rapidly reappeared and flung a stunner at Ron. Expecting something Ron hastily cast a shield charm and then fired off his own stunner "Stupefy!"

This time the Hand shrunk back and didn't come back up. To be sure Ron cast another diagnostic charm. The Sentry Protection spell was designed to fire from a preselected repertoire of light to more-than-moderate spells. In order to deactivate it one had to fire spell for spell. It wasn't as easy as it sounds because in a combat situation many wizards revert to their own repertoires and have trouble playing copycat. The apparent lack of effect playing copycat initially portrayed has also made many wizards think that doing so has no effect. In order to stop the sentry one has to copy 5 spells in a row. Other wise the sentry keeps firing until the subject is defeated. Of course Dumbledore had to modify it so he could fire off a sixth spell. But the point of the matter being that Ron had managed to beat the sentry. It was effective but still simple.

Further diagnostic spells revealed a few layers of shield charms. He blasted through each of them with a series of shield penetration spells. The chest was now unshielded by '_protego_' but Ron's diagnostic charms revealed that it still contained a flagrance curse like the items in the Lestrange Vault did. However unlike the Lestrange Vault there was only one item protected by the curse. The chest, and there were no Gemino Curses. He cast a series of '_finites_' that wore out the curse until the chest was safe to touch.

Ron put the back of his hand against the chest. It didn't burn. He ran a few more diagnostics. There was a complex locking charm on the lock and an unbreakable charm on the entire box. There was no magical means to get inside. But Ron had grown up around Fred and George.

He conjured up a paper clip and simply picked the lock. Twenty minutes of swearing that would never be mentioned to Hermione later and Ron was in possession of the Philosophers Stone. He cast a few more charms to make sure it wasn't a fake then using what was left of the paper clip as a test sample he determined that the stone had the ability to turn any metal into gold.

Satisfied, he jogged back to the room with the devils snare remnants and used the ascending charm to get himself back into the Third Floor Corridor. When stood in the doorway he vanished the Xylophone and closed the door before Fluffy could make any noises drawing attention from student or staff in the school."

Back under Disillusionment charm he arrived at the base of the astronomy tower.

"Ron? Hermione? Is that you?"

Ron cancelled his charm "Harry? Where are you?"

"Under here!" he let Ron under the cloak.

"Summoning Charm work then?"

"Yeah! Looks like our theory worked, did you get it?"

"Yeah! It's here." Ron took the stone out of his pocket. "Have you seen Hermione?"

"No I just got here a few minutes." Said Harry

Ron looked worried. "She's the only one who's not back yet. Should we go look for her?"

"Oh ye of little faith Ronald!" said Hermione from the doorway She deactivated her disillusionment charm.

Ron rushed out from under the cloak "I never doubted you my love!" he pulled her into a kiss. "Success?" he asked.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Hermione climbed the stairs to reach the seventh floor. Her destination was the highest point in Hogwarts that didn't include the three towers. Unfortunately the path up to the Room of Requirement was used commonly by Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students coming out of the common rooms and it was now time for breakfast. She couldn't move without bumping into people and Disillusionment Charms did not make her entirely invisible. Hermione therefore chose to modify her disguise. She found herself an empty classroom, dropped the charm and then transfigured her clothes into robes, thankful that only Ron's picture was in the Prophet.

Hermione found it slightly easier to make her way to the seventh floor. Unfortunately she was heading against the school crowds and older students don't really like First Years bumping into them. Despite that thought she made it to the Room of Requirement. She passed the entrance three times thinking about the Room of Hidden Things, and the door appeared. She went inside and began her search.

The Search didn't take long, having done this once before and not having the three idiots trying to kill her and her friends she simply had to take the Diadem and put it in her pocket. It was now time to go to the Astronomy Tower. However.

Glancing at her watch she realised she had plenty of time, really the boys had been given the harder of tasks. Not that there was much choice, she and Harry were rubbish at chess and she and Ron couldn't speak Parseltongue. That left her with the easiest of the three tasks. But there was something she could do, whilst she was still at Hogwarts. She had enough time. She just hoped the boys didn't get to upset at her for it.

Hermione left the room and then put another disillusionment charm on herself, enough time had elapsed that fewer people would be in the halls to bump into, but not enough that large numbers would be leaving the Great Hall for class, which was good because her destination was very near the Great Hall.

It took her nearly ten minutes but Hermione made it to the Ground Floor. To the right of the Great Hall, next to Entrance Hall stairs; there was a corridor that the students of Hogwarts almost never travelled down. Not that they would be the least bit excited by it. For down this corridor was a collection of boring store rooms and spare unused offices. Even Filch rarely set foot in this part of the castle. But it also contained the master registry for Hogwarts students. Every magical child born ended up on this registry and every muggleborn ended up after their first accidental bout of magic.

Hermione entered the corridor and found the registry room. In this room was a long role of parchment, that got changed once year and names were added to lists that would be used to send out Hogwarts letters. Hermione had to make sure that Rose's birth was not recorded on the register. The Role of parchment unfurled gradually, making space for a magical quill to write down the names of young witches and wizards as they appeared on the text. Hermione watched the quill and smiled as an Alfred Cattermole appeared on the parchment.

After the war Ron wanted to make sure the Cattermole family escaped from the muggleborn registration committee alright. They had. After they left the ministry building Mary and Reg had gathered up their children and moved to Holland. They came back just in time for their eldest Maise to attend her first year at Hogwarts, which also happened to be Hermione and Ginny's last.

She scanned the parchment until she found what she was looking for, it was only a few days ago so she managed to find it quickly. Harry's theory had been correct. Rose's name was on the Parchment and worryingly her birthday was completely accurate: 12/06/06.

Hermione knew what she had to do, "I Hermione Jean Weasley, mother of Rose Ginevra Weasley hereby prohibit Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from keeping official records of my daughter until she reaches the age of attendance."

Rose's name vanished from the register. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She checked her watch and saw that it was time to meet the boys.

"Have you seen Hermione?"

"No I just got here a few minutes." Said Harry

"She's the only one who's not back yet. Should we go look for her?"

"Oh ye of little faith Ronald!" said Hermione from the doorway She deactivated her disillusionment charm.

Ron rushed out from under the cloak "I never doubted you my love!" he pulled her into a kiss. "Success?" he asked.

"Yes, I had a little time left over so I also removed Rose from the register. Let's just hope they don't find out about her."

"And who might we ask…"

"…is Rose?"

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Fred and George Weasley were feeling rather down. There brother had been missing for 3 days now along with that unrelated Weasley and the famous Harry Potter. They were exempt from classes for a few days and lying on their beds.

"Come on guys breakfast!" said there friend Lee Jordan

"You go on Lee…" said George

"…we're not hungry." Said Fred

Lee looked at them sympathetically and went downstairs to meet Alicia and Angelina.

Fred looked at his twin "I'm bored! Can I look at the map?"

George gave a grunt that indicated Fred could.

Retrieving the map from his twin's trunk George began looking at all the names. When suddenly noticed something that gave him hope for the first time in days.

"George Ron and the other missing firsties are on the map."

"What? Where?" said George jumping off his bed

"It looks like they've just come out of the one-eyed witch passage."

"How can Ronnie know about the one-eyed witch he's never been to Hogwarts before? Or Honeydukes for that matter."

"I don't know but if he's on the map? Wait! they're splitting up" said Fred

Fred and George watched Harry Potter head towards the headmaster's office and Ron and Hermione further upstairs.

"Isn't that the forbidden corridor?" asked George

"What is our dear little brother doing in the forbidden corridor?"

"He's off the map, where is he?" said George

They scanned the map and eventually found him deep in a lower level of the castle.

"How did he get down there?" asked Fred

"There's a passage that leads there see… wait that's a shear drop." Said George

"Look at the other Weasley, she's heading to the seventh floor. Why is she heading their, the only thing near there is Divination?"

"That's not far how about we follow her?"

"Well if it leads us to our little brother?" said George "Alright!"

"Wait! Where is Harry Potter?"

"Let's see. He's in… a girl's bathroom on the Second Floor? What the heck is he doing… whoa he just vanished… where is he?"

"I don't know. Must have gone somewhere the map doesn't know. Look that Hermione is in the seventh floor corridor… wait what is she doing? She's walking back and forth?" said Fred

"That is weird. Wait she just vanished to! What now?"

"That corridor is nearby. Let's go see if we can find out where she went."

George nodded. The Twins hurriedly dressed and trotted to the seventh floor corridor. Just a few round the corner they saw Hermione reappear on the map.

Peaking round the corner they saw an 11-yar-old girl in Hogwarts Robes look left and right. She didn't see the twins and cast a disillusionment charm on herself. A quick check of the map showed her heading in the opposite direction of the twins.

Fred and George looked at each other.

"What now?" asked Fred

"Follow at a distance?" asked George

"Works for me!"

They followed Hermione's progress on the map. But they kept there distance. Whilst Hermione was at the registry, Fred and George were at the top of the Entrance Hall steps.

"There's nothing in there except old records what's she doing?" asked George

"Don't know. She's coming back, quick in here."

The twins hid in a broom cupboard near the grand staircase and waited for Hermione to pass. When she did they snuck out of the broom cupboard and again followed her at a distance.

"Look Fred, Harry and Ron!"

"It looks like the three are meeting at the base of the Astronomy tower." Said Fred

When the twins arrived outside the base of the tower they heard a conversation.

"Oh ye of little faith Ronald!"

"I never doubted you my love!" came Ron's voice "Success?"

"Yes, I had a little time left over so I also removed Rose from the register. Let's just hope they don't find out about her."

Fred and George nodded to each other, time to show themselves

"And who might we ask…" began Fred

"…is Rose?" finished George

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Golden Trio turned around and trained their wands on the unexpected company.

"Shit… Fred, George how did you find us?"

"Ronald language!" scolded Hermione, though none of them withdrew their wands.

"Trade secret Ronald, so going to introduce us to your new girlfriend?"

Harry noticed one of the twins holding a piece of parchment. "Of course the map…"

Fred and George recoiled in shock. "How the…"

"We don't have time, we need to go!" said Harry

"Wait you can't go?" said one twin

"Mum's been frantic." said the other

"Sorry boys!" said Hermione "But we've got work to do. Now please stand aside."

"Couldn't we come?" asked Fred

"The two of you seem close to our Ronnikins!"

"I think our family deserves some answers."

Ron looked at Harry. Harry wanted to say no, but he could see Ron really wanted his family involved.

"Are you sure Ron?" Harry asked his best mate

Ron nodded.

"But Harry we've already got Ginny and Remus."

"Ginny?" the twins asked in unison.

Harry looked at the twins "If you come with us understand that you won't be able to leave for quite some time. What we're doing is of the utmost secrecy."

Fred and George looked at each other, nodded.

"Oh great Boy-Who-Lived…"

"…please do take us…"

"…to your secret hiding place…"

"…and trust us with your great secrets."

Harry rolled his eyes "Good to have you around again Gred, Forge! Now follow us."

Harry looked at Hermione. She didn't object.

"So Ronnie, aren't you going to introduce your handsome brother and his ugly twin to your girlfriend?" Said Fred

Before George or Ron could make a comeback, Harry snapped "Later, we need to get out of here. Now!"

Everyone followed Harry. They jogged towards the One-Eyed-Witch passage without meeting anyone. Until.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"Intriguing!" said Dumbledore "and how may I ask did you come across this passage?"

"We followed it?" said the male law officer.

"The owners of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade heard a disturbance in their basement." Said the female law officer. "They called us over. We didn't find anyone but we did find this passage. Looks like some of your students have been sneaking into the sweet shop."

"I would bet that it was some of your troublesome students Minerva." Sneered Snape

"Really Severus. We don't know whether any of the student of 'any' house have been using this passage."

Harry, Hermione and the present Weasley's looked at each other.

Harry motioned them to follow him away from the congregation.

"Wait!" came Snape's voice "Why are all of you so…" he stopped when he realised who he was addressing. The other adults stared at the students in shock.

"RUN!" shouted Harry, and the five of them started running away from the adult group.

"Harry wait!" called Dumbledore with desperation, no one present had ever heard from the old man before.

But Harry was not planning on listening to his old mentor. Not today.

A leg-locker curse hit Ron. Harry and Hermione stopped instantly, followed after only slight hesitation by Fred and George.

Harry aimed at the consortium of Professors and law officers. He fired a series of stunners while Hermione released Ron, who was quickly back on his feet.

Harry took on his role as the one in charge "Ron, Fred George, take point. Hermione you and I have the flank. Stay together no matter what."

Dumbledore and Snape tried firing off some more leg-lockers but this time Harry and Hermione were ready. They deflected them back and the male Law Officer was hit. A body-bind incapacitated the other but now they had three Professors on their tail.

With significant exchange of spell fire they made it to the bottom of the Grand Staircase.

"Get out the front doors!" yelled Harry, he had two escape plans both of them involved getting out of the castle.

They ran down the Entrance Hall steps but Dumbledore flicked his wand and the Front doors of the castle locked. Several students and staff were in the Entrance Hall and more in the Great Hall. Noticed three 11-year-olds and two 13-year-olds getting chased by three Professors.

"EVEWRYONE OUT OF THE WAY!" yelled Ron and fired off a series of stinging hexes. None of them hit those in the Entrance Hall but that was not the desired effect. Everyone cleared out of their way and the 5 of them managed to get to the now locked door.

"_Alohomora!_" said Ron but the doors were heavily sealed

"Ron that won't work!" said Hermione, who along with Harry was continuing to exchange spells with Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall and now Professor Sprout had joined the battle. "The door is sealed by several deadlocks that…"

"Really Hermione? We're in the middle of a battle… ah shit…" Ron began focusing on his own duelling prowess. He deflected McGonagall's 'Incarcerous' and sent back a stunner.

"Harry is the Sword… ready!" called Hermione

"Yeah it's in my rucksack!"

"Cover me!" ordered Hermione, She yanked the Sword from Harry's rucksack while he and Dumbledore exchanged stunners. "I can use it to get the door open but it'll take a few minutes."

"Do what you have to, we'll cover you!" called Harry

While the boys duelled an increasing number of opponents that stretched to Seventh Years and Prefects Hermione levitated the sword and used the basilisk venom enhanced blade to cleave through the bolts holding the door locked.

Fred and George were at a loss as to what was happening. The only duelling spells they new were the disarming charm and a handful of other hexes that weren't much use. Still from behind Harry and Ron they managed to provide some helpful support fire.

Dumbledore was really perplexed. Harry and the other missing students had turned up in the Third Floor corridor and on sight had run from himself, his staff and two Law Officers. Harry and his friends were also fighting like… really experienced warriors. But how had that happened? It took years to learn some of the spells being exchanged and years more to master them to the extend they would be able to hold there own in a battle when they were outnumbered ten to one… seven to one… these students were good.

Ron's stunner took out Professor Sprout and a series of body-binds had disabled 5 students. Harry was doing even better one of his body-binds had hit McGonagall, she was out, and one of his stunners had taken out Professor Snape, which he took personal satisfaction from, even if he was planning to name his son after him. He had also taken out 8 students that had joined the battle. But he knew that it was only a matter of time before either he or his friends…family made a mistake. He just hoped Hermione could open the castle door before they made there mistake.

"Ok only two more bolts an…" Hermione was hit by a stunner

"HERMIONE NO!" Ron flung himself to his wife leaving Harry as the only defender. Harry was now faced by a large barrage of stunners, body-binds and incaerous's. So he did the only thing he could… "_Protego Totalum!_" Every spell that hit Harry's shield bounced off. About half hit the ceiling and a few other hit the walls but several rebounded taking out a dozen students and Professor Flitwick who had just shown up.

"Ron I need you now." Called Harry

"Harry!" called Dumbledore "There is no need to…" Dumbledore was cut off as Ron re-entered the battle and in his fury fired "_Reducto!_" at the Headmaster causing him to stagger back despite his shield charm. Ron was pissed and began firing spells everywhere.

Harry, taking advantage of his friend's anger, resumed his shield charms "Fred, George I need you to cut the last bolts of the door. Please!"

"Alright!" Called one of the Twins.

"Harry! Pease! Stop this!" but the Headmaster only received another redactor curse in his shield charm. This one from Harry, no one stunned his sister and got away with it.

"The doors open!" called the Twin with the sword

"Go I'll cover you!" yelled Harry

Ron pointed his wand at Hermione's unconscious form and incanted "_Mobilicorpus!_" Hermione's body began floating in front of him. He followed his brothers out of the front door.

Harry backed away carefully he waited until he was in the frame of the door then "_Flipendo Maxima!_" the effect of the enhanced red sparks spell of the jinx meant that the entire entrance hall was the subject of a mass explosion of red sparks that went off like an awesome fireworks display. As a result the students and staff in the entrance hall had to either produce shield charms or get burnt by hundreds of flying sparks. It bought Harry and the Weasley about five seconds to leg it.

Harry was now defending the flank, Ron had surrendered control of Hermione to the twins and had taken point. Unfortunately they were back under spell fire. They crossed the Covered Bridge. When they got to the end Harry, took a leaf out of Seamus' book, aimed his wand at the centre directly between him and his pursuers and incanted "Confringo!" the centre of the bridge exploded. Making it impassable, but only temporarily. Dumbledore possessed the Elder Wand and was able to conduct a "_Reparo_" spell on the bridge causing it to fix itself but it took nearly a minute before it was safe to cross.

Harry and the Weasley's ran to the Stone Circle and then halted in their tracks. Hagrid was climbing the trail leading up to the Stone Circle, no doubt coming to investigate the explosion on the bridge. That meant that Harry could no longer lead everyone passed the forest boundaries. Which left only one escape route.

"Quick to the Willow!" called Harry

"The Willow?" asked one of the twins

"As in the Whomping Willow?"

Harry led everyone across the trail leading to the tree. When they got there it was swinging its arms like crazy.

"Reducto!" Harry struck the knot and the tree stopped swinging

"Cool!" said the Twins together

"Everyone inside I'll close it behind us!"

"Inside?" asked one of the twins but then they noticed Ron heading towards a passage at the trunk of the tree and followed him. Harry came last but before he entered he aimed his wand at the tree and incanted "_Rictusempra!_" the Tickling Charm immediately set the tree off again. It wouldn't stop Dumbledore for more than a minute but every second counted.

They hurried as fast as possible down the passage which wasn't very fast because they had to take Hermione's unconscious body with them. Sure enough just 20 meters from the shack Harry could make out Professor Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell behind them. They began exchanging spells again. But then Harry's group exited the passageway. As Harry exited the tunnel Ron pointed his wand at a chewed up armchair and cried "_Mobiliarbus!_" it flew towards the passage blocking it.

"You take the twins!" called Ron and apparated away with his wife. Harry grabbed each of the twins arms and apparated away just as the armchair was flung aside.

They were safe!

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><p>Once again let me ask you to please leave reviews. Preferably long and detailed ones. Thanks.<p> 


	8. The Silver Trio

Well I'm glad to see so many of you enjoyed the last chapter. It is probably the one I most enjoyed writing about. The following chapter, whilst I'm sure it has it's moments is unfortunately not as epic, but I imagine you will get similar thrills from it.

By the way, I'm doing this for all my stories, I have a list of prospective chapters that may or may not change as I write them along with notes about how I'm progressing through them. This is mainly just to reassure readers that I am still alive and functioning, after an unintentional 6 month gap with one of my other stories. Just in case you are interested.

Also what do you think of the cover picture for this story, when the website introduced the cover feature, I surprised myself with my own enthusiasm. All my stories have a cover of some sort now. So honestly what do you think?

Finally. Please review, and please make your review is long and detailed as well.

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><p><em>Listening to the Suite for Strings by John Rutter<br>_

Chapter 8: The Silver Trio

Harry and the twins appeared in an obscure part of Cumberland.

"Bloody hell did we apparate?" asked George

"Yes." Said Harry giving a quick check of his surroundings "Ron and Hermione should be inside."

"Inside what?" asked Fred

"I need you both to pay attention to what I'm about to say and not to forget it." Said Harry, remarkably seriously for an 11-year-old, that is overlooking the fact that he had just duelled about half of Hogwarts all at once.

Both Twins nodded.

"The Headquarters of the Golden Trio are located at Potter Manor."

To the Twins shock a huge house and its surrounding grounds suddenly appeared before them.

"Wow!" said George

"What in the world?"

Harry indicated the Twins should follow him. They did.

Once under the Fidelius and the Protective Wards, Harry felt is was safe enough to talk. "This was my Grandparents house. We've been using it as our headquarters. Come on we need to make sure Hermione is okay." Said Harry

He led the stunned red-heads into the manor and through to the sitting room where he was greeted by Ginny "Harry are you… Fred, George, what are you doing here?"

"Same reason you are Ginny." Said Harry "They wanted to come along and we just couldn't resist their charm. Now Hermione?"

"Ronnie took her up to their bedroom. Remus is with them as well. What happened?" said Ginny rapidly

"Wait what is Ginny doing here?" asked Fred

"Mum didn't mention anything about you being missing." Said George

"Ginny just joined us yesterday evening." Said Harry, "You would have been informed of her disappearance in a few hours anyway. Guess Percy alone will bear that news."

Fred, George and Ginny suddenly looked guilty.

"Ginny could you show them the Pensieve?" asked Harry

Ginny suddenly remembered the memories and pulled Fred into a really tight hug.

Harry left the three of them and went to Ron and Hermione's bedroom. Hermione was sitting up on there bed and Ron was holding her in his arms. Remus was watching from the door with interest

Harry rushed over "Hermione are you alright?"

His two best friends regarded his presence and smiled "Harry I'm fine. It was just a stunner. I see you got us out alright?"

"I couldn't have done it without Ron… or the twins, they finished what you started."

"I think we may have spooked them." Said Ron smiling "Makes a nice change, where are they?"

"I asked Ginny to show them the pensieve." Said Harry "You sure you're alright Hermione?"

"I'm fine. Harry, a nights rest and I'll be set to go to Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Remus "Why would you go there?"

Harry looked at his old defence teacher, who hadn't yet taught him defence. "All three of us are going, as soon as we're all fit." Said Harry looking at Hermione "We'll see how Hermione is in the morning."

"But…" began Remus

"We'll explain later once the twins are out of the pensieve. "

"Al…alright!" sighed Remus. Just then an almighty wail could be heard just across the hallway. "Oh not again." Cried the man.

"Rose?" asked Ron perplexedly

"I don't think she likes me." Said Remus sadly. "And while she likes Ginny, Ginny knows nothing about changing nappies so…"

"She peed in you face didn't she?" said Hermione sympathetically.

Remus nodded "I think I need to go and change. If you'll excuse me I'll meet you in the sitting room in a few minutes."

Harry went downstairs to the sitting room to join Ginny while Ron and Hermione attended to their Daughter.

"Rose Ginevra Weasley did you pee on your uncle Remus?" said Hermione in a mock scolding voice.

Rose immediately recognised the voice of the woman/girl who had been around all of her, slightly over a week long, life. She stopped wailing and immediately gurgled happily and reached towards the person she had become most comfortable with. She then gurgled happily on the sight of the other person she was most comfortable with: the red haired boy/man with an interesting nose. Rose did not understand why her Mum and Dad were so much smaller than they were a few days ago, or what the purpose of a Mum and Dad was besides to feed, but one thing little Rose did know was this: Mummy and Daddy love Rose, if not Rose gonna make a lot of noise until that situation has been rectified.

Hermione picked up her daughter and tapped her nose. "You miss Mummy and Daddy Rose?"

"You really need to learn to get to know people who aren't Uncle Harry or Auntie Ginny."

Rose for her part just looked at her 11-year-old mother and noisily filled her nappy.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

After several minutes; mother, father and daughter joined everyone down in the lounge where The Weasley twins were currently engrossed in the pensieve.

Ginny and Remus were sitting on one sofa. Harry was sitting on another.

"Right!" said Ginny rather sternly for her 10-year-old self "Why did you all arrive back with my sister inlaw unconscious and bring along my twin brothers in the process?"

Harry looked at her amusedly but quickly schooled his expression, Ginny may be ten but his Ginny was coming out fast, "_Shouldn't have shown her that bloody memory!_" he thought, but quickly schooled himself "Well, things were going well, I had the venom enhanced sword, Hermione had the Diadem and Ron had the Stone."

They spend nearly half-an-hour explaining their meeting the twins and then the resulting chase-combined duel. By the end Ginny's jaw dropped so hard she pulled several muscles in the process.

Several Weasley profanities later, a pale Remus finally sought clarification "Let me get this straight Harry. You singlehandedly duelled Professor Dumbledore, several members of staff including a duelling champion and a dark arts master whom were incapacitated and the vast bulk of the senior years of Hogwarts?"

"No I don't be silly Remus Harry scolded."

Remus seemed to relax, but looked perplexed.

"These two duelled as well…"

Remus paled again.

"Oh yeah and the twins helped to…" said Harry

"Harry that is… not normal…" said Remus

"Neither is producing a patronus at thirteen or riding a dragon out of Gringotts but I've done that before."

Remus began breathing rather rapidly "Harry please tell me you're not going to do anything else like this.

"He could but it would be a lie." Said Hermione

Remus glared at the witch.

"What. We have a job to do. What would you have us do?" said Hermione

"I? I would go to Dumbledore. Why didn't you do that when you first came back."

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry, both of them new why, but it was Harry's right to justify a decision made but not spoken about between the Golden Trio. "I love Albus like the Grandfather I never had." Began Harry "But. He can be a bit… controlling… a bit… single-minded. I admit freely that I have made mistakes, the fact that we got involved in that duel is proof enough, nut Dumbledore tended to believe that his way and his way alone was the answer. When I was fifteen he tried to keep me cut out of Order affairs because he was worried that Voldemort would try to possess me. When it became apparent that he was trying anyway Dumbledore tried to have Snape teach me Occlumency thinking that he would be able to look past his grudge with my Father despite us having already spent four-and-a-half-years hating each other. When he was dying he kept it from everyone except Snape who he convinced to kill him and spent the entire year allowing Malfoy, a Slytherin in our year, come up with plots to kill him. Two people, including Ron here, nearly died during that year because of Malfoy dabbling in curses and poison. Eventually Malfoy used a vanishing cabinet to let several Death Eaters and other supporters of Voldemort into the castle, including Fenrir Greyback."

Remus' eyes darkened at that.

"That's not all, after his death Dumbledore used his will to lead us on a wild goose chase searching for the Deathly Hallows despite the fact he had entrusted us to hunt the Horcruxes. All because he wanted me find out that I was the master of death. He should have merely snapped the Elder Wand and buried the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest or somewhere else it could never be found. He never bothered to tell us about the Sword of Gryffindor being capable of destroying Horcruxes or let anyone know that Snape was really on our side all along."

"I guess you're right Harry."

"If we told him we were from the future, there is no telling what he would try to do." Said Hermione "There is also no telling what he would try to do to Harry as well."

"What do you mean?" said Remus

"Hermione." Said Harry sternly

"No Harry, no matter what happens you are not going back to those farm animals you call your relatives." Said Hermione

"Hermione." Said Ron "They're not all farm animals, walrus's belong in the sea right?" he finished trying to lighten the mood.

"Harry did your relatives abuse you?" asked Remus carefully

"It wasn't that bad." Said Harry looking at the floor.

"Harry they locked you in your room with only a bowl of soup a day for food." Said Ron "If they had it there way you would still be in that cupboard!"

"What cupboard?" said Remus desperately.

"Look it wasn't all that bad but from your point of view up until a week before my last birthday I slept in the cupboard under the stairs."

"WHAT!" shouted the enraged yet-to-be-former defence professor "I'm gonna…"

"Whatever you're going to do can wait Remus." Said Hermione looking at Harry, who looked a little awkward. "Right now our main concern is defeating Voldemort."

"Harry you are not going back there." Remus declared

"I have no objection to that." Said Harry "But Dumbledore might."

"What has Dumbledore got to do with it?" asked Remus

"Who do you think left me there?" said Harry

Remus suddenly realised what Harry was insinuating "Are you saying Dumbledore left you there knowing that you could be abused?"

"When I was fifteen and he finally came clean about the prophecy he acknowledged there was no love between us and when I was sixteen he made it clear to them and to me that he knew I had not been happy growing up there." Said Harry "I think he was mainly concerned with keeping the blood wards up, and hoping that I would be able to form some kind of understanding with my relatives… maybe even love for them. Had I done so, the blood wards would have lasted beyond my seventeenth birthday."

"We don't think Albus is evil." Said Hermione "But we think he has his flaws. I must admit I was painfully slow in accepting that." Said Hermione looking down. "More than I should have I told these two to do things because Dumbledore thought they were a good idea."

Ron put and arm around Hermione and kissed her temple "It wasn't your fault. In fairness though you were right most of the time anyway, the alternative to doing what Dumbledore wanted was not usually such a good idea."

"The point is." Said Hermione picking up at her husbands kind words. "If everything goes to plan, Voldemort will be dead, permanently, and Harry, Ron, Rose and I will return to our timeline. The problem is that we'll be leaving behind three probably very confused and vulnerable 11-year-olds and they are going to need your help."

"Whao there slow down." Said Ginny who had been quiet up until now "How can you be so sure that you'll get back to your timeline, won't it have changed?"

The Golden Trio exchanged glances. "We don't!" admitted Harry "What the Mirror of Emit showed us could mean absolutely nothing but…"

"Even if it means nothing I am not bringing my daughter up in a world with Voldemort." Said Hermione "One way or another we are not going to join the world until that… psychopath is properly dead."

"Alright so you're aim is to kill Voldemort." Said Remus "And afterwards, assuming you return to your own timelines, you want me to protect your 11-year-old selfs afterwards… from what exactly? Voldemort will be dead."

"But his supporters will most certainly not be." Said Harry "By the time this will be over it will be public knowledge that I am close friends with a muggleborn and a member of the biggest blood-traitor family in Britain. For the record though, couldn't ask for better friends." Said Friends smiled at that comment "I am already considered an important public figure because of what happened ten years ago. Harry Potter will probably become a much hated figure in the eyes of people like the Malfoy, Greengrass and Nott families, as well as others. Then there are the politicians. People like Fudge and Scrimgeour will want Harry Potter under their influence. You've seen what they're like in the Pensieve so I don't need to tell you how dangerous they can be."

Remus suddenly understood the extent of what Harry was talking about. "You expect me to protect your 11-year-old self from all of that. I'm a Werewolf Harry, I'm not sure I can manage that."

"Maybe not on your own, but with a little luck Sirius should be better by then." Said Harry "If Hermione is up to it tomorrow…"

"Which I am."

"…we're going to break him out."

Remus and Ginny gasped.

"Are you insane?" said Remus

"You should have asked if he was serious." Pouted Ron

"Harry, you can't singlehandedly break into Azkaban." Said Ginny in alarm.

"Haven't you been paying attention, I'm not going to break in singlehandedly. These two are going to do it with me." He indicated Ron and Hermione who were nodding in agreement.

"But… You can…" began Remus

"Remus." Said Harry "Your friend Sirius Black, my Godfather has been locked in there: without trial, illegally for a crime he didn't commit. If that wasn't reason enough to break him out of there, which it is, he is the only one with access to Grimmauld Place."

"Why does that matter?" asked Remus.

Then Ginny gasped "That Locket… It was in that house at one point wasn't it?"

"Yes Ginny and it's there now." Said Hermione "It has been since Regulas had Kreacher take it from the Horcrux cave."

"It wasn't removed until two weeks before we realised who RAB was. Rather irritating that was too, especially when we realized who had it." Said Ron "That's another thing. Umbridge is obsessed with power and blood purity. She is not to be trusted at any cost. Unfortunately she's yet to commit a major crime, so we can't put her in prison but regard her very carefully." Said Ron

Remus smiled "Believe me I have no problem not trusting dear Delores."

"If she try's to cut into your hand again, she'll get a load of my bat-bogey… I've been practicing." said Ginny now handling the wand Harry had bought from Ollivanders at wand point.

Harry smiled at the 10-year-old variation of his wife. She may have some growing up to do but he was sure that he loved this little girl.

"So anyway!" said Hermione "Do you now understand that one way or another we need Sirius out of Azkaban tomorrow?"

Remus slumped "I am going to worry about you, you know."

Harry smiled "Don't be you taught me how to do a patronus charm. As deputy head of the Auror department I know the layout of Azkaban, and I also know that aside from a thousand or so dementors there are only a few wizard guards in attendance. It should be easy enough with these two."

"Harry I must insist on coming with you." Said Remus

"What?" said Harry "Remus we need you to take care of Rose."

"What about me? I can do it." Declared Ginny "You won't be gone for long will you?"

"Ginny?" said Ron

"If I'm totally honest your daughter was much more comfortable with her than with me." Said Remus

"That may be Remus but I want an adult with her, not to mention the rest of the Weasleys." Said Hermione "Besides you're a werewolf, if the ministry see you near Azkaban, they'll probably write you up a death warrant, or possibly worse. Let the Dementors have there revenge."

Remus paled.

"Exactly." Said Hermione, she smiled at him "Listen, we've broken into Gringotts and the Ministry before and gotten away. We can do the same with Azkaban. I, like Harry know the layout and current security, it can be done."

Harry was grateful Hermione didn't mention the aftermath of those two break-ins. Though on reflection the Battle would have happened one-way or another anyway. There were too many supporters of Voldemort for things to end any other way.

"If you want to help Remus you could go out and purchase some supplies, I'll give you money?" said Harry

"Supplies?"

"We weren't expecting to have anyone other than you in this house, we need more food, and if we're going to break into Azkaban chances are we're going to need chocolate afterwards and you're the expert in that regard." Said Harry

Lupin blushed "Ah of course you know about that."

The Golden Trio collectively laughed "Oh yeah." Said Ron "Took me over a month after Third year to touch Chocolate again."

The twins suddenly popped out of the Pensieve. They had finished the seven year memory. One, presumably George, rapidly engulfed the other in a hug.

"Please…" said George… "Tell me you can save… everyone?"

"That's the plan!" said Harry "Speaking of which. What about the Diadem?"

"Oh… that's right I have it here." Said Hermione taking it out of her pocket. "Who wants to destroy it?"

"Remus how about you?" asked Harry

"Me?"

"Yeah, give it a shot." Said Harry

Hermione put the diadem on the floor and Ron handed the Sword of Gryffindor to Remus. He took the sword and looked at the item that had been hidden in Hogwarts for 35 years with revulsion. This next act would be a blow against Voldemort.

Remus swung the sword down and destroyed a priceless heirloom of Rowena Ravenclaw. The tiara split into two, there was an almighty shrieking but and black smoke exited the remains causing everyone to back off. The black smoke formed an image of the face Tom Riddle… Voldemort, his face contorted with fury and rage but as the face charge at everyone but Harry through up a Shield Charm and the figure scattered into the air on contact. Everything calmed down.

For a moment their was silence then "I think I'll open a window." Said Harry, there were some light-hearted chuckles.

"I'll start dinner, shall I?" said Ron

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

After Ron had surprised his twin brothers with cooking skills to rival that of the Weasley Matriarch, Harry decided it was time to find out what the Wizarding World was thinking about him and the other Weasley's. They all gathered in the Lounge and put on the Radio and listened to the Wizarding News service.

"_Welcome to the Wizarding news service. The time is now 6 o'clock and the summary tonight: Major developments in the ''Lost Trio'' case: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Weasley sighted in Hogwarts, a large scale duel involving two law officers, the bulk of Hogwarts Staff and the older students. We ask the big question regarding the Harry Potter case: What is going on? Also tonight…"_

As the announcer went through the news stories, Harry realised he probably should have began paying attention to the news a lot earlier. Things had gone from a trio of missing children to six missing children and a werewolf, though Harry was sure that no one even knew Remus was missing.

"_Our top story tonight: The missing 11-year-olds, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and the unrelated Hermione Weasley have earlier today been sighted, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry no less. The events that have happened in the last 24 hours are extensive and the events this morning truly boggle the mind. Here is the report from Miranda Fairbanks."_

"_It began as a worrying case of three 11-year-olds missing from the Hogwarts Express and failing to show up for the Sorting, one of the most momentous events in any young Witch and Wizard's life. The fact that one of these missing students is the hero who conquered You-Know-Who, Harry Potter, has troubled the Wizarding World all the more. We were not even sure that all three were together. Of course now we are. Late last night, while his family were attending a meeting regarding the search for the ''Lost Trio'', the younger sister of missing student Ronald Weasley disappeared. Initially there was no indication that her disappearance, which has greatly upset their family, had anything to do with the ''Lost Trio'' but events this morning have rather confused the issue._

_Earlier this morning two Magical Law Enforcement investigated a disturbance in the cellar of Honeydukes Sweet Shop in the Village of Hogsmeade, just outside the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were called to investigate the area after the shop owners heard intruders in the cellar of the shop. Investigations found a passageway that lead straight into Hogwarts Castle. It seems that this is one of the previously unknown secret passages in and outside of Hogwarts. Having made this momentous discovery the MLE officers engaged in discussion with the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore and two other staff members at the time suspecting truanting students were sneaking into Honeydukes cellar to steal sweets. However in the process of the discussions, rather spontaneously all three missing 11-year-olds showed up, most likely in hope getting out of Hogwarts using the passage. However the three were not alone. They were this time accompanied by Ronald's older twin brothers Fred and George. When they realised they had been caught, Harry Potter was reported to have yelled "Run" and led the other four through the castle as they were chased by the two officers and the three professors._

_The chase was described as highly dramatic by those who witnessed and took part. At one point the five truants attempted to exit through the front doors of the castle but with a flick of his wand the Headmaster sealed the doors, preventing the truants from leaving the castle. However the truants ran to the door anyway, turned about face and engaged in a mass duel that no 11-year-old should be capable of facing. In the course of the Duel, several senior year students intervened to help duel the three 11-year-olds and in addition the twin 13-year-olds who were stage fighting alongside the three truants, although there duelling skills did more resemble their age. During the course of the duel several staff members, including all four heads of house were stunned by the truants, as were a large number of senior students._

_During the course of the duel, the girl, Hermione Weasley, used some form of sword to cut through the deadbolts on the castle door. During the duel, Professor Dumbledore managed to stun her, but the twins continued the job in her place. We understand that when Miss Weasley was stunned, Mr Weasley became enraged beyond comprehension and directed his rage at Professor Dumbledore and fired curses so strong that the Headmaster staggered back behind his shield charm._

_Quite quickly the Twins finished the work Miss Weasley started and carved the door open. How this sword was able to do this is quite perplexing, later when analysed the deadbolts appeared to have been melted off by some form of acid. However experts on the design and history of Hogwarts stated that the bolts were made of a particularly strong iron were reinforced with strong magic. There are few types of acids or venoms that could penetrate the metal much less cut through it. This is just one more question in this peculiar mystery._

_Upon the door opening Mr Potter had, the others run on ahead and used a very simple, yet in this instance highly effective, spell: 'Flipendo Maxima' which is the enhance variant of the novice red-sparks spell, normally used by wizards as a substitute for a lack of fireworks. In this instance the pursers of the group had no choice but to either stop and shield themselves or risk getting burnt in the face. Either way Mr Potter had bought himself and his fellow truants' time. One of them then sought to buy some more time by destroying the Covered Bridge with what appeared to be an explosion curse. Professor Dumbledore managed to repair the bridge but again the truants had bought themselves time._

_It is then understood that the truants escaped through a little known about passage to Hogsmeade, or more specifically the Shrieking Shack. Professor Dumbledore has confirmed that a few people do know of the existence of this passageway and that the Whopping Willow tree placed on top of it was used as a guard to keep people from actively using it without permission. Professor Dumbledore refused to comment on the method for getting past the tree safely but he did confirm that "Mr Potter and his associates appeared to have the required knowledge of the passageway and how to access it." No more has been released to the press at this stage regarding the 'Lost Trio' and the Twins escape but unconfirmed reports indicate that the group apparated from the Shrieking Shack. This is considered unlikely as there is no indication of any of the youngsters being instructed on how to apparate. But again there is no indication of the 'Lost Trio' having been trained on how to duel as proficiently as they did. Neither the Ministry, Hogwarts School or the Weasley family have issued comments on the events of the last 24 hours but there can be no question the nature of the 'Lost Trio' case has changed. We hope to have more on this story at 10 o'clock."_

"The 'lost trio'?" groaned Harry "Can't they just use our names?"

"Probably not." Said Hermione. "You are, and have always been the boy who lived. Ron and I have always been the other two thirds of the Golden Trio. Not that we're bothered by it but everyone knows you. We're a bit of an anomaly."

"Mum and Dad are really worried." Said Ginny suddenly

Fred and George looked very solemn at that declaration.

"I'm sorry Ginny but there is nothing we can do." Said Ron

"Couldn't we talk to them, let them know what's going on?" asked Ginny

"Are you kidding?" said Ron incredulously "If Mum learns what we are, what we're doing she'll spill it all to Dumbledore faster than you can say 'you're just a child'."

Fred and George snickered at that declaration.

"But she's worried about us." Said Ginny "Can't we just write a letter saying we're OK but we're doing something super top secret and can't tell them about it?"

Ron looked at Harry.

"I suppose that would be alright." Said Harry "But we would have to check and make sure there is nothing in them that could give us away. Also don't mention Remus," Harry looked at his honorary Uncle "they don't know you're involved yet and I'd like to keep it that way. The ministry is anti-werewolf enough as it is in this era without them thinking you are somehow involved."

Remus looked at Harry "They're not that bad right now…"

"By your standards maybe, but not ours." Said Ron. "After the war Hermione wrote up an anti-prejudice bill. Discriminating against someone on the grounds of being a werewolf is like acting racist in the muggle world. You can get a criminal record, fined, even imprisoned."

"While I'm aware the Ministry has been worse." Said Hermione "Right now the smallest connection to a crime is enough to get a werewolf sent to Azkaban without trial."

"Ok I suppose you are right." Said Remus. "I just don't like feeling useless."

"No one does Remus." Said Harry "That's usually why people do stupid things. At least in my experience."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry had managed to confund a muggle into letting him, Ron and Hermione rent a fishing boat. They had stopped about 10 miles from the Island where Azkaban prison was located and suited up in black clothing making them unidentifiable.

"Out of everything we have ever done Harry, this has to be the most insane." Said Hermione.

"I have to disagree, riding a dragon out of Gringotts is far more nuts than this." Said Ron

"It's all for a good cause, we can't get the locket without Sirius, so we've got no choice." Said Harry "Remember from the moment the alarm goes off we'll have five, maybe six minutes before the Aurors arrive with the hit wizards."

"Asides from the Dementors there should be at least two aurors here plus five other staff." Said Hermione "I just hope we can get in undetected."

"We have faith in you oh glorious Hermione." Mocked Ron "Seriously though. This is a great idea, I can't believe no one has ever considered it before."

"I've pre-set the charms." Said Harry "As soon as we're all back we can activate them and head back to the mainland."

Hermione and Ron nodded.

Hermione drew her wand "Remember, stick together no matter what. Things may get pretty chaotic."

The boys nodded.

Hermione conjured a large boulder and had it hover a few feet above the water.

"_Carpet Retractum!_" incanted Hermione

"_Carpet Retractum!_" came Ron

"_Carpet Retractum!_" came Hermione

The trio were attached magical ropes to the boulder and to themselves.

"Bubblehead Charms." Ordered Harry and he and his friends had bubbles emerge around their heads.

"Alright let's do this." Said Hermione. She pointed her wand at the boulder and incanted "_Depulso!_"

The rock that the three were attached fell into the water pulling the three of them with it. The rock then proceeded to travel at speed and underwater dragging the three magical divers with it.

After several minutes the rock stopped at the side of the Prison. To call Azkaban an island was a mistake in Harry's opinion. It was more like a huge tower sticking out of the Ocean. There was no beach that one could land on, or a port a boat could dock at. Officially the only way in and out of Azkaban was through a two-way floo connection that was located in the in Ministry basement and in the administration centre deep within the prison.

At the water level they were far enough away that the Dementors didn't cause any of them to faint. But all three of them felt the cold and unhappiness.

"You alright mate?" asked Ron

Harry nodded, he felt his happiness at Ron's concern drift away slowly though. Dementors were horrible creatures.

Hermione looked very grim as she pointed her wand upwards "_Homenum Revelio!_" she incanted "Alright the nearest empty cell is just a little higher. We shouldn't get detected by the dementors so long as we're quiet enough."

The boys nodded. Hermione levitated the boulder so that it pulled them out of the water. After a few seconds the three of them were dangling outside an empty cell window. Hermione trained her wand on the bars of the window and began silently cutting through while Harry cast warming charms on everyone to get the cold North Sea water out of them. It took nearly half an hour cut through the bars and once detached, they had to be done silently, but when it was done Hermione entered the window followed by Ron then Harry. Before leaving they silently repaired the bars in case someone noticed they were broken.

"Right Ron, your Patronus is the least unique amongst us." Said Harry "Everyone stick together keep the patronus only powerful enough to keep the Dementors back. Hermione and I will keep doing the monitoring charms."

Hermione and Ron nodded.

"Alright, let's keep the talking to a minimum until we're done." Said Harry

"_Expecto Patronum!_" incanted Ron a silver Jack Russell Terrier emerged from his wand and took its place between the trio.

Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way as stealthily and as quickly as possible to the maximum security cells where Sirius was supposed to be located. There was no point in bothering with the invisibility cloak as dementors were blind and any guards they came across would notice the Patronus first anyway. Azkaban was a really grim place. When Hermione and the other two first visited after the war they were all furious at the atrocious conditions. Hermione had immediately demanded the prison be seriously renovated. The version of the prison they were walking through now was a complete pigsty, or at least it smelt like one. The cells did not have toilets. Only buckets but because of the dementor presence many of the occupants simply forgot about looking after themselves. The building itself was never cleaned and there was damp everywhere. The only reason rock wasn't crumbling off the tower was because it was held together with magic.

"Wait!" said Harry quietly. His monitoring charm had picked up someone round the corner where there were no prison cells. He put up one finger and indicated round the corner.

The other two nodded and moved against the side of the wall, Ron also motioned is dog to stay back so that its light didn't give away their presence.

Harry peered carefully round the corridor and saw a man, one of the prison guards leading two dementors alongside his own patronus, a vulture. Harry immediately had Ron and Hermione backtrack and gestured them to hide in a vacated cell. They closed the door behind them silently. The guard and the two dementors stopped outside of the cell. For a horrible moment Harry though he was about to come in but he heard a jangling of keys and the cell opposite the one the Trio were hiding in opened.

"Come on Wallace, your eight months are up. You're being released."

The trio didn't here Wallace say anything but they knew that it wasn't uncommon. The Dementors had that effect on people. It wasn't uncommon for it to take several dementor free hours, if not days, to overcome the initial shock of being under their care. It was also not uncommon to never get over the trauma, even if one had only spent a few days under their care. About a minute after the movement of the guard and the prisoner had passed Harry did one more monitoring charm and then motioned the others to follow him.

Moving through Azkaban stealthily was very, very difficult. If Harry and his friends weren't so use to evading Filch in Hogwarts corridors during the night, he likely would have been caught by now. They didn't dare try stunning or body-binding any of the human guards because to do so could condemn them to the Dementors Kiss. The dementors had the authority to kiss anyone they found out in the corridors. If the Guards could not defend themselves then the dementors might 'assume' they had the authority to perform the kiss. Harry would not have the soul of anyone on his conscience it was bad enough having to execute someone.

And that was what he was tasked with. He was to execute Voldemort. Again. He would gladly do it so his wife would never be possessed by the diary Horcrux again, so his Godfather and his Honorary Uncle did not have to die for him. So that so many people scarred by the second war would not have to suffer like they did. But that didn't change the fact that it was going to cost Voldemort and Quirrell their lives.

It took them a while but the three of them arrived only a corridor away from the maximum security centre of the prison. They once more took refuge in an empty cell.

"Alright. There will be at least two human guards and an auror on station here." Said Harry. "We have no choice but to do this whilst being seen, so we need to go in all three Patroni blazing. Are you guys ready?"

Ron and Hermione nodded, this plan was insane but they had no alternative.

Harry nodded back and gave them a grim smile "Go!"

Checking the monitoring charm Harry discovered there were actually four people in the maximum security area not including the prisoners. But they could not hang around because this area was too well monitored.

"_Depulso!_" Harry incanted on the door to the maximum security area. It burst open. The auror and the three guards present were shocked to see three short people clad in black enter the prison. They were caught off guard also by a silver trio of Patroni animals: a dog, an otter and a stag charged in and the fifty or so dementors that were guarding the high security area scattered in fear of the silver guardians.

The trio ran into the security centre and Harry fired off his "Flipendo Maxima!" buying them a few more seconds. Harry knew where Sirius was kept because after the war he insisted on being shown his godfathers cell when the trio were shown Azkaban. Harry remembered the anguish of knowing Sirius was locked in such a horrid place.

Harry's charm caused the guards to once more become confused for a few more seconds.

Once they were all past the door Harry, Ron and Hermione fired off a series of Body-Binds that immobilised the Auror and two of the Guards. The Third Guard put up a bit of a fight but eventually the onslaught of three body-binds proved too much for him.

The Golden Trio had secured the Maximum Security centre.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The second the first spell activated in the high security area an alarm began sounding round the entire prison. The fact that the Dementors were scattering from the area would only make the other guards in the area more suspicious.

Now that the human guards had been immobilized the prisoners were beginning to emerge from their withdrawn states and were beginning to show limited awareness of the world outside their minds. All except one, who was so concentrated on his unjust imprisonment that the dementors could not get a meal out of him.

Sirius Black managed to observe three rather small people clothed in black chase away about fifty Dementors with a trio of silver animals. Then one of them approached the door to his cell and silently using a Reductor curse blasted the door lock.

The figure then visually motioned Sirius to come with him.

"Wh… Who… are… you?" said Sirius, his voice shivering in the cold around him.

The figure did not answer, he merely motioned him again.

"Why… Why should I… I… tr… trust… you!"

Harry's heart was breaking, he had missed his Godfather so much. But he couldn't dare reveal himself to him in front of the guards and the other prisoners. So he did the only thing he could to silently get Sirius to trust him. Using his wand he called Prongs the Patronus closer to the cell while the Otter and the Jack Russell continued guarding the guards, Ron and Hermione0 from the dementors.

Sirius gasped. It was a stag. What was going on?

Harry did not stop their though. He using his wand cast fire letters above the stag:

I SOLUMLY SWEAR I AM UP TO NO GOOD

Sirius realised that this figure had some link to the marauders.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked

The figure motioned Sirius to come with them.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The maximum security area was located in the centre of the prison so there were no windows however there was a glass dome that was reinforced with magic.

Harry had Sirius stand back and he, along with Ron and Hermione aimed their wands at the dome. Harry held up three fingers and Rona and Hermione nodded. The Three fingers counted down: Three… Two… One… and three silent Explosion Curses left the wands and struck the Dome. The Glass didn't break.

Sirius sighed and looked down but Harry held up his fingers again. The countdown was repeated and again three Explosion curses struck the dome. Still it remained intact.

Several Dementors tried charging through the prison corridors and towards the group but they were intercepted by the Otter which knocked them back.

The trio repeated their explosion curses on the dome but still the dome remained.

About twenty more Dementors came rushing in only to be rushed out by Prongs.

A fourth round of curses and the dome still remained.

Another 12 dementors came rushing in only to be repelled by the Jack Russell Terrier.

For fifth time the trio of Explosion curses escaped the wands. But this time the glass dome finally shattered.

Harry, Ron and Hermione then cancelled out the shrinking charms on the brooms concealed in their pockets and caught them. The brooms in question were Cleansweep Fives that Harry had found in the broom shed at his Grandparents house. They were not ideal for a match against Slytherin but they would be ideal for escaping Azkaban.

Harry mounted his broom and motioned Sirius to get on the back. After a moment's hesitation Sirius mounted behind Harry. They took off, just as the dementors began swarming in through the corridors again. The trio had their patroni knock them back one last time then they took off just as they released the human guards from their body-binds. The guards managed to protect themselves from the dementors but they could not react fast enough to stop the Trio flying through the now smashed-open-dome that had been created.

Prongs charged ahead of the party knocking dozens upon dozens of dementors out of the way. The Otter and the Terrier hovered around the broomsticks protecting them from any incoming dementors that Prongs didn't. When they got above the prison the truly tricky part happened. As the only home allowed to them by wizards, dementors existed at the prison in large numbers. Harry Ron and Hermione found themselves hovering on brooms with a physically weak Sirius high above the greatest hellhole on planet Earth and surrounded by just over a thousand dementors.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had discussed this beforehand. The plan was simple enough: Stay close to Harry and let him figure the way out. The dementors were keeping their distance from them because the patroni were circling them and keeping them back.

"That way!" said Harry pointing in a direction where the dementor barrier was slightly less dense "Ron take the left flank, Hermione you take the right. I'll charge the centre.

"Alright!" yelled Hermione

"Will do." Called Ron

Sirius was confused, his rescuers sounded like… children. But he knew they couldn't be because a child was lucky if he was able to perform a simple hex never mind a patronus charm.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" called Harry

"_Expecto Patronum!_" called Ron

"_Expecto Patronum!_" called Hermione

All three of the patronus animals glowed brighter as Harry and the others sent them on ahead. As the patroni charged the barrier, the dementors their swarmed in trying to gain a feast, but ultimately they were unsuccessful. Even for a thousand dementors, three fully corporal patroni, cast by veterans of the charm and all three of the Patroni were working together was just too much.

Sirius could not believe how comfortable and safe he felt in the presence of over a thousand dementors, he was ever grateful to whoever his saviours were. But right now he really wanted answers.

With some effort the three brooms reached the far side of the dementor wall and the Patroni worked on keeping them from pursuing all the way back to the fishing boat. When they got their Harry activated the protective enchantments and they sailed back to the mainland.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

After a few more skirmishes the dementors retreated and did not come back.

"We're safe for now." Said Hermione and she along with her husband and Brother in-law removed their disguises. Sirius was shocked to find that his saviours were in fact a trio of 11-year-old children who should be in school.

Then he noticed the dark haired one with glasses.

"Hello Sirius!" said Harry

"J…James but you're…"

Harry shook his head, took off his glasses and pulled his hair off of his scar.

Sirius suddenly came to his senses, the emerald green eyes the scar "Harry? But…"

"It's a long story, and it will be easier when we get home. First we have to return this boat."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Once Harry had returned the boat and paid the confunded man for his trouble. He and his friends escorted Sirius to a deserted part of the harbour.

"Take my arm Sirius." Said Harry

Not sure what was going on, Sirius carefully held Harry's arm and asked "Now what!"

Harry smiled "The Headquarters of the Golden Trio are located at Potter Manor."

Sirius just had enough time to widen his eyes before the trio apparated to the outskirts of the wards in Cumberland.

* * *

><p>By my calculations I have at least 5 chapters, probably 6 left to go. But on the plus side this story has been great fun even if it has not been my most popular. When I started this story I had little idea about how it would go, I now have a very clear, and very different idea about, how it will go.<p>

Please leave reviews.


	9. The Method

Ok sorry this took so long, I was trying to make this chapter more interesting than it otherwise would have been. Then I decided not to bother (though using a bit more profanity that would suit a Scotsman) because it was taking to long. I will say this before you read on. I know what order the Horcruxes are going to be destroyed in, but the characters don't so that is why some of their timings seem to conflict, they all have different idea's and keep changing there minds.

Also the next Chapter is no longer going to be called a Sirius Solution (I decided I don't want to do what a thousand other authors have done so the events of that would have been are mentioned in this chapter.

Please Review

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: The Method<p>

The Trio and Sirius arrived outside Potter Manor. Sirius was in complete shock. His 11-year-old Godson had just apparated. What's more the phrase Harry had told him before he did so.

"Harry… you apparated… and that phrase. Are you a secret keeper?"

Harry looked at his Godfather and smiled in a way that brought back memories both painful and joyous at the same time.

"That's nothing, Hermione here is the one that cast the Fidelius."

"But… but you're only 8, and the two of you can't be much older than 11." Said Sirius

"Eight?" said Harry incredulously "Eight? Sirius I'm 11 as well."

"Oh come on Harry." Said Ron "It's not his fault you're a midget."

"Shut up Ron, just because you're a ginormous genetic freak."

"11?" said Sirius "That means I've been in prison…"

"Nearly ten years. Come we'll explain inside." Said Harry

Sirius found himself being led into the house. Ron wandered off while Harry and Hermione forced the smelly man into the living room.

"Padfoot!" said Remus on sight. He ran up to his old friend.

"M…Moony!" said Sirius joyfully.

Remus very carefully hugged the frail man, for his time incarceration had seriously deteriorated his wellbeing. Azkaban was truly a horrible place.

"Remus… I swear… James… Lily… I never…"

"I know… it was Wormy…" said Remus "He's here…we're holding him prisoner."

"WHAT!" yelled Sirius "Where is the traitor? I'll kill him."

"Sirius calm down." Said Harry firmly "If Pettigrew dies then we won't have any proof that you're innocent. Besides there are those with the power to do so who may still try to get you done for his murder… even if the circumstances are known."

"We have a lot to talk about Sirius." Said Remus "Please show him the Pensieve memories to him Harry?"

"Not yet…" said Harry

"But…"

"Sirius you've just escaped from Azkaban." Said Hermione "You need to be attended to first."

"Attended to?" Sirius asked weakly

"Yeah!" said Ron followed by his sister and his older twin brothers. Ron was carrying a tray with bread, butter and jam; Ginny was carrying a jug of water and a glass and the twins were carrying phials full of potions that Hermione had brewed earlier.

"Right!" said Hermione "First thing is first." She took a red potion from Fred and a brown one from George and forced Sirius to sit down and drink them. "Drink!" she ordered

"Yuk! Those taste horrible." Said Sirius

"That's nothing you should try skele-gro, absolutely repulsive." Said Harry

Sirius looked at his Godson "You've taken skele-gro? When?"

"That's slightly complicated…" said Harry

"Eat first." Hermione bossily ordered him "We have a few hours' worth of Harry's Pensieve memories to show you… but you're not going to see them until I think you're up to it."

"Pensieve memories?" said Sirius "You can't just explain."

"We will now eat." Said Harry firmly.

Sirius chuckled at his 11-year-old Godson ordering him to eat, but the boy had just busted him out of the worst place on earth so Sirius ate.

Ron had his siblings help him bring in more food and drink for lunch, so everyone ate. When Sirius finished his meal Hermione had him drink some more potions and then forced him to have some chocolate.

Ron in the meantime got some stale bread and broke it into pieces.

"You're not going to eat that are you?" Sirius asked

"Not me no." said Ron. He took the pieces on a plate to a cabinet in the corner, opened it and took out the rat cage.

"WORMTAIL, give me that Bastard I'm gonna…."

"Do absolutely nothing." Said Harry sternly. "When this is all over we'll present Wormtail to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We'll clear your name and Peter will spend the rest of his life in prison."

Ron forced the pieces of stale bread through the bars in the cage and then pointed his wand at the water bottle attached to the cage causing it to refill itself.

"So what's going on Harry and how did you…" Asked Sirius

"Not yet!" said Ron "This rat here doesn't need to hear any of this." Ron put the cage back in the cabinet.

"It's silenced." Said Hermione "I've also set up a few other wards to keep him escaping. Also that cage has an unbreakable charm. If he tried to transform… well let's just say it probably put everyone off the idea of mincemeat." Hermione was amused at the round of shivers that responded to her joke. "Anyway I think you're healthy enough for the Pensieve memories Sirius. Harry you want to explain this?"

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

After several hours, Sirius emerged from the Pensieve looking absolutely horrified. He found his Godson, pulled him in close and did not let go. No one said anything, everyone except Remus left the room.

"Moony." Said Sirius after a while "You had a son."

Remus smiled "Yes… I did."

"With my cousin's daughter."

"Yes. Hard to believe isn't it."

"How old will Dora be now?" asked Sirius

Harry did some mental calculations. "I make 18. She should be an Auror trainee now."

"I can't believe I missed her growing up." Said Sirius "Remember when Andie had us watch her, the summer before our last year?"

"Yeah…. She cried a lot but eventually settled down so the four of us…" Remus's eyes darkened. Harry wasn't sure why at first but then he noticed the werewolf glare at the cabinet.

"It wasn't your fault." Came a voice from the door. It was Ginny "He lived with us for ten years and we didn't know anything."

"So what now Harry? Now that you're back?" asked Sirius

"We stop Voldemort again." Said Harry, happy note that Ginny was no longer flinching at the name. "But this time we do it our way, no Chamber legend, no Stone down a trapdoor, no camping in a tent, no ministry interference, no Dumbledore interference, No Azkaban breakouts. We know where the Horcruxes are and have already destroyed one, the snake hasn't been made yet and if all goes to plan Nagini and Voldemort will never even meet."

"But why did you risk so much to break me out. I know from your memories I was important but…"

"We knew you were innocent and couldn't let you rot in Azkaban. Also with you out the ministry and the Order are distracted from both mine and the others disappearance which gives us more opportunity to operate without interference. Then there is also the matter of the Horcrux your brother liberated."

"The Locket you stole from that Umbridge?" said Sirius "What about it?"

"Remember Kreacher said he took it back to Grimmauld Place and tried to destroy it but couldn't? It should still be there. Mundungus after all hasn't had a chance to steal from you yet."

"And because I'm now the Head of the House of Black, you need me to get into Grimmauld Place."

"There is also the matter of me." Said Harry

"What do you mean?" said Sirius

Harry looked awkward, "You saw how badly my relatives treated me. You saw how Dumbledore had to protect me from the rest of the Wizarding World. When this is all over I don't know what's going to happen; Ron Hermione and I may have to stay here with our memories intact along with my week old niece, the four of us may be taken out of time for what we've done or… what I think will happen is that the Mirror of Emit will send us back home and leave behind three 11-year-olds without the experiences you witnessed in the pensieve starting Hogwarts late and burdened with the reputation of having defeated Voldemort."

"What is the Mirror of Emit?"

Harry quickly filled Sirius in on how he, Ron, Hermione and Rose got back in time."

"Wait you have a niece here?" said Sirius

"Uh yeah, where is Rose?" Harry asked Remus, but Ginny answered.

"We put her down just before you guys arrived back, Ron and Hermione should be getting her up about now, she hasn't been fed yet." Said Ginny

"Anyway you think this Mirror will send you back home?" said Sirius

"We think so. It appears that it sent us here in order to take out Voldemort early. We have a rather large family waiting for us in 2006, I have a son and Ginny and I are expecting another child as well."

"A son?" said Sirius

"Uh huh, he's nearly 3. James Sirius Potter."

"You named him after me?"

"You and Dad, it seemed like the right thing to do. Only time will tell." Said Harry

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sirius

"My son is related to my father and has Fred and George Weasley for uncles as well as two cousins who will be attending Hogwarts at the same time. We all pity Professor McGonagall in the future because she is going to have to deal with an offshoot of marauder and Weasley twin spawn."

Sirius smiled at that thought. "And she'll also have a little Lupin too."

"Teddy might actually be alright for her." Said Harry "He takes after his mum mostly, but He's mainly inherited from Remus an innate kindness for others, a keen intellect and an unhealthy addiction of chocolate."

"What do you mean unhealthy?" asked Remus

"Meaning he is frequently grounded for taking chocolate from the sweetie cupboard."

The four of them laughed at that.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

After Dinner the assortment of Golden Trio members, marauders and Weasleys – including a baby Weasley – were surrounding the wireless listening to the new report. The breakout from Azkaban by one Sirius Black with the aid of "Three unidentified witches and/or wizards" made the opening story, the second story was a follow up on the "Missing Trio". Because the three of them used disguises and only performed silent magic in the presence of the prisoners and guards no one connected the two stories, however Dumbledore did make a public appeal for Harry to turn himself in saying with Black out of prison he was in even greater danger.

"I bet we're giving Fudge a large migraine right now." Said Ron

"Good." Said Harry "After Umbridge, he deserves it. Even if he hasn't done it yet."

"Isn't that rather vindictive?" Said Remus

"Very, but it's not like we can do this any other way. Might as well enjoy the pleasures of it." Said Harry. Umbridge was someone he hated with a vengeance, possibly even more than he hated Tom Riddle or Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry Potter and Delores Umbridge had never even met when she decided to send Dementors on him. He had never had any form of encounter or effect on her whatsoever. Bellatrix at least had the poor excuse that defeating Voldemort the first time put her in Azkaban, along with the House of Black internal conflicts with Sirius and Voldemort had the even more poor excuse that Harry was prophesised to kill him. Umbridge simply chose to send those Dementors because Fudge didn't want to believe him about Voldemort's return and she resented Harry for trying to contradict someone who gave her a lot of power.

"Well we've already destroyed one Horcrux." Said Ron "Now we just need to destroy the others."

"One of them is in my mother's old house right?" said Sirius "Let's go there tomorrow…"

"We can't get in there without you Sirius and you're not leaving this house for at least a few more days." Said Hermione sternly "When I'm convinced you're fit enough to risk the outside world then I'll let you go."

Sirius tried to chuckle but was distinctly put off by Hermione's glare, which spoke malice of deep and heavy proportions. While Sirius cowered Ginny and the Twins snickered.

"Ok so the Locket is out." Said Remus "What about this ring?"

"I think the ring will be the Third Horcrux we destroy." said Hermione

"Then what? Are you thinking of going after. The Diary?" asked Ginny

"No the Diary will probably be somewhere deep in Malfoy Manor." Said Harry "The protections around that are what we know the least. I think we should save that for last."

"Then you're going after the Cup?" said Fred

"I hope you don't try quite the same method as last time, not that we're any less proud of you." Said George

"I think I might have a plan that will let me get the cup out of Gringotts before anyone realises." Said Harry "It will need some fine tuning."

"I'm not thinking the cup." Said Hermione looking directly at Harry "I think the best thing we should do right now is remove the Horcrux inside of you."

"What?" said Harry "I thought we'd save that until last?"

Hermione shook her head "No we've done everything that is urgent so far: securing our headquarters, securing Wormtail, retrieving the Diadem and the Philosophers Stone, retrieving the Sword and harvesting the venom and rescuing Sirius. Those were all urgent things. The Ring and the Cup are going nowhere and Malfoy won't get an opportunity to plant the Diary on anyone until at least Christmas."

"What reason does he have to plant it sooner than next year?" said Harry

"Malfoy is obsessed with discrediting Dumbledore at the moment." Said Hermione "With us doing our whole missing thing, I'm sure Dumbledore will be vulnerable to criticism from people like Malfoy and I'm sure he'd do whatever it takes to discredit him further, including planting the Diary on someone. But as I said he won't try that until at least the students come home and he can access one that's not Draco or someone else he cares about. I think we should deal with the Horcrux in your scar before we do anything else."

"Why?" said Harry

"This process, like I said before involves Basilisk Venom and Phoenix tears but it could kill you. Even if you survive, which I think you will…"

"It's going to hurt isn't it?" said Harry

Hermione looked really troubled "The Unspeakables thought of Basilisk Venom immediately but the research they were conducting was to determine what could be done to minimise the chance of death. They had yet to come up with an anaesthetic that could protect the vessel but still destroy the soul shard."

"If that's the case then I think we should get it out tonight." Said Harry

"Tonight?" said Hermione "Harry we need Phoenix Tears."

"And I know where to get them." Said Harry "All I need is a phone."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

As the sun set, nearly one hundred miles from Hogwarts in the town of Stromness on the Mainland of the Orkney Islands, Harry was at a pay phone while Ron kept watch outside.

Harry pressed his wand against the number five button. He pushed the button, with his wand five times and held the receiver to his head.

"You have reached the Gringotts hotline. How may I direct your call?" said a female voice.

"I wish to speak to someone about acquiring some Phoenix tears. Can you please put me through to someone with the authority to carry out such a transaction with the utmost secrecy?" said Harry

"That is the nature of the business. I can transfer you over to either Director Gornuk or advisor Bogrod."

"Bogrod? Can you put me through to him please?"

"Certainly please standby." Said the voice.

Harry waited a few seconds.

"You have reached senior adviser Bogrod, how may I and Gringotts aid you?"

"This is Harry Potter."

There was silence for a moment "Can you verify this?"

"The Morning after my two friends and I were declared missing, we came to you with a baby and asked to release some of my assets. If that is not enough then you can give me a blood test. I wish to purchase some phoenix tears. As soon as possible. Preferably within the next hour."

"How much are you talking about?"

"At least two hundred millilitres, preferably five."

"Mr Potter for such a substantial amount of a valuable substance at short notice I would have to charge 35,000 Galleons."

"That is for Five Hundred millilitres?"

"Yes that price is or Five Hundred millilitres."

"Then we have a deal. I will be in Gringotts in one hour. In disguise, do you remember what I looked like?"

"Yes. Very well. If you are willing I will arrange for the amount to be taken from your vault overnight. Please tell the tellers you have an appointment with Bogrod"

"Thank you. I will meet you in one hour accompanied by one friend."

"Understood. Goodbye Mr Potter.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

One hour later Harry and Hermione under hairy dwarf disguise entered Gringotts and after Hermione inspected the tears and Harry got his blood verification, Harry's inheritance received a minor dent, but as Harry wasn't planning a life without work it wasn't that relevant, besides he still had a lot of money, this one transaction wasn't going to affect things that relevantly.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" said Remus "Wouldn't it be better to go to Dumbledore and…"

"We've had this discussion." Said Harry "We can't rely on Dumbledore for everything. The last year of the war proved how dangerous it was do that. The Order was still operating on contingencies that he planned and when you couldn't rely on him to win the war anymore you relied on me. Yes sometimes people need help but Wizards really need to learn some self-reliance skills and not to place all their hopes on one old man with an addiction for lemon flavoured sweets or one orphan capable of summoning a silver reindeer."

"Harry, that is not your only redeeming skill." Said Hermione

"Maybe but it's the example I'm going with. Remus I know this is hard for you to accept but we know what we have to do, and bringing anyone else into this right now could put everything in jeopardy."

Remus looked troubled again but nodded "You realise that if you are right, the lessons that you learnt from the war. The Wizarding World is going to have to learn them again."

Now it was Harry's turn to look troubled. "Yeah. But even if they do have to learn them, without the war I think that is a good thing. But the two of you are going to have to lead the charge." Harry said looking at both Sirius and Remus.

"With Voldemort dead, Dumbledore should be more helpful, and with what we learnt in the Pensieve we could probably use some of that against our enemies." Said Sirius "It was Voldemort's death that led to a better world after all."

"But people thought he died last time, well some of us did."

"This time he really will die though." Said Hermione

"I have a plan to make sure everyone knows he was still alive these last ten years and to make sure that when he dies, people know he is dead." Said Harry

"What plan?" asked Hermione

Before he told her, Harry smiled and said "We're going to have something I traditionally hate…"

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"Alright Harry." Said Remus "I won't say any more about this. As strange as it sounds, your judgement is probably more reliable than any of ours."

"Yeah I know, I'm short." Said Harry making everyone smile slightly, but only for a second.

Harry was lying in the bed he had commandeered at the manor. Everyone except Rose who had been put down for the night was there.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until tomorrow?" said Hermione

"I don't." said Harry "The sooner this is out of the way the less I have to worry about it. Even if I die, that's one less piece."

"Harry please." Said Hermione, her eyes tearing. Ron moved to his wife and pulled her into his arms.

"Hermione, this is the only way." Said Harry beseechingly "We have to do this."

"Harry this could kill you." Snapped Hermione forcing her head out of her husband's arms. "I could kill you. How would you feel if I was in this position, or Ron, or Ginny, or James, or Teddy…"

Harry looked down. "I'd hate it. But it has to be done, you need to get rid of this. You're right, I'm not the one who has to perform this ritual I'm the one who needs to be performed on." Harry tried to keep his voice from being raised "This thing, this Horcrux… I thought I was rid of it eight years ago, but its back. Hermione that thing infected me for nearly 17 years. When I learnt what it was… I think that actually helped me walk into the forest. Please bear this in mind Hermione. You're not doing this to risk my life… you're doing it to save it… because there is no other way… there is no ignoring this… you need to do this. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can be of use to you again."

Hermione nodded. "Alright Harry… I love you. We all do…"

There were a series of nods in agreement with Hermione's statement.

Harry looked to Ginny. Her eyes were completely red. Harry reached out to her with his nearest hand. Ginny approached and took hold of it with both of hers.

"I… lo…" Ginny tried to articulate.

"I love you Ginny." Harry said "What you saw proves that. If something happens to me, then I want you to know that it was you… no one else was for me… no one else understood me like you could, not even these two." He indicated at the other two thirds of the trio "I love you… I could only ever love you… At least that is what I want to believe."

Ginny cried even harder she half leapt and half collapsed on the Boy-Who-Lived.

Fred and George moved to approach but Ron fixed them with a glare the pair had never seen on their brother before. As the youngest Weasley son shook his head, his twin brothers got the message and backed off.

It was only in a moment such as this Harry could see just how much he missed wife. Almost every night since shortly after Ginny had graduated from Hogwarts Harry had shared his bed with her. The handful of times he hadn't since then had felt so wrong. This last week had been exceptionally difficult. Just like the last time the Horcrux was to be removed from Harry's being, he wanted Ginny, the girl loved to keep him safe… to keep him from having to sacrifice himself. The fact that Harry knew he had a chance of survival helped but he still felt vulnerable. That was why he wanted this thing gone now… to rid him of the curse… the curse that had been placed on him twenty five years ago or ten or however one saw it. It was time.

Harry lifted Ginny's head off his shoulder, looked her in the eyes and then he kissed her forehead. Ginny in response kissed him on the lips. It was short and it lacked the lust of an adult lover… but Ginny was only ten. This was the closest way, her way, of expressing how much she loved him, and to Harry it meant just as much.

"Let's do this." Said Harry, he looked at the bushy haired girl he adopted as his sister so very long ago. Hermione nodded. She was ready.

"Good luck, Harry!" said Ginny

"You've been through worse, you'll kick this thing's ass." Said Ron

"You're the Boy-Who-Lived." Said Fred

"The Chosen One!" George corrected

"Whatever… but more importantly…"

"You Harry…"

"Our Harry…"

"Even though we've known you only a short time…"

"We believe in you…"

"You learnt so much growing up." Said Remus "I am honoured that I took part in that… I want to believe that I will do so again. Good luck Harry."

"I haven't been much of a Godfather up until now… I never expected to end up in prison but I did and I should have cared for you in your parents place. You got me out… You will survive this and then I shall fulfil my duty as your godfather."

"I love you Harry." Said Hermione "You are my brother, I believe in you and I believe you are strong enough to survive this."

Hermione lifted her wand and pointed it at Harry's head "I can't risk using anaesthetics until the Horcrux is removed. Basilisk Venom is unpredictable when tampered with. This will sting quite a bit. I imagine this will be painful all round. Ready?"

"Ready." Said Harry

Hermione ran her wand over Harry's scar and parted the tissue. It felt to Harry like his top head was being skinned. But it was all necessary.

Ginny forced herself to watch as Harry's head was cut open. Hermione used her wand to keep the blood from gushing out but it was still horrible to watch. Her eyes locked with Harry's and he reached out instinctively towards her. Ginny hesitated but took hold of Harry's hand. Even if they hadn't fallen in love yet, Ginny was willing to take this role for him.

Hermione picked up one of the phials full of the venom "I guess this is the point of no return. Good luck. Harry." She pointed her wand at Harry "_Pertrificus Totalus_!"

Harry felt his entire body freeze up, his hand was still entwined with Ginny's. He never enjoyed the feeling of being in a Full Body-Bind, not that he really expected anyone to but he couldn't even squeeze Ginny's hand and while he knew he was breathing he could not consciously feel himself doing so. But there was no other way to do this.

Hermione gently poured, a little at a time, the contents of the phial into the wound.

"_Finite Incantatum!_"

Harry felt himself able to move again. Two seconds later felt his head react in a most horrific pain, causing him to crush his wife's/future wife's hand with a painful grip. The feeling was not that much different from sustain exposure to a Cruciatus Curse. Like the curse, the pain spread out from the point of contact until Harry's entire body ached like nothing he'd ever felt before, the point of contact in this case was Harry's scar.

Hermione meanwhile cast a series of medical monitoring charms "The venom has infected 12% of his blood supply and it's rapidly increasing."

The bones in Ginny's hand were cracking. She was crying in pain, but it was not that of her own.

"20%!" said Hermione "25."

The longer she waited the more danger Harry was in. Generally speaking after the blood supply was 50% infected the chances of survival dropped to 1 in 4. At 60 % they dropped to 1 in 5, at 70% they dropped to 1 in 8 and at 80% that dropped to 1 in 10.

"35%." Said Hermione "40."

Harry had never been this badly infected in the chamber of Secrets. Things had gotten so bad his life start to flash before his eyes. Images of Dudley hitting him, his relatives punishing him, telling him he was a freak, the insides of his cupboard. People he didn't know in Little Whinging looking down on him. Honestly not the best images to have.

"50%." Hermione's voice croaked

Harry's images switched to Hogwart's attempts to send him letters and Uncle Vernon trying to outrun Hagrid.

"60%."

Harry was beginning to cry in agony, not just because of the extreme pain he was suffering, because of all the horrible memories of growing up with the Dursley's.

"70%."

Now the images of Hogwarts were showing up. Trying to find classes with Ron, saving Hermione from the troll, Quidditch, the Forbidden Forrest, the image of Hermione giving Harry his first memorable hug stayed still for a while. Then other things began to come in: arriving at the burrow in a flying car, meeting Hermione in Diagon Alley. Brewing potion in Myrtles bathroom.

"72%?" said Hermione "It's slowing down. Harry's fighting it."

"Is that good?" asked Sirius

"I don't know… maybe? It should keep him alive but I don't know how it will affect the Horcrux."

Harry saw images of Hermione lying petrified in the Hospital Wing, and then of the book page in her hand. But it was the next picture that stuck with him. Ginny. She had just woken up from her trance in the chamber. Suddenly Chronology went out the window and Harry pictured Ginny throughout the years: Playing Quidditch at school during Umbridge's reign, sitting down to breakfast at the burrow, playing Quidditch alongside him and others during his Sixth Year, Christmas at the Burrow, kissing in the common room.

"It's stabilising at about 75%." Said Hermione "How is this possible?"

Harry was now focussing on one of the most painful moments of his life. The Funeral of Albus Dumbledore. When he broke up with Ginny and made the decision to leave Hogwarts. The pain of that decision, even just the memory of it, caused Harry great pain.

There was an almighty scream coming from Harry. But it was not Harry screaming. Black smoke began gradually easing its way out of Harry's scar. The Method was working.

"76%." Said Hermione "Keep going Harry."

The image of the Ginny at the funeral brought with it the memory of Harry's great epiphany: the fact that Dumbledore, his last great protector was gone and the fact that the Horcrux hunt was now left to Harry and Harry alone. The memory of the loneliness he felt burned through him.

"_Serpensortia!_" Incanted Ron a snake popped out of his wand and Ron had it hover above Harry's head.

"Harry look at the Snake." Said Hermione "Talk to the snake

Harry couldn't hear them but he saw the snake, he knew what that meant "_My name is Harry James Potter. I am the son of James and Lily Potter. My Son is called James Sirius Potter._" Suddenly the Parseltounge stopped "My Wife is called Ginerva Molly Potter." Harry passed out.

"That's it!" cried out Ron. He vanished the Snake.

A screaming, skull shaped head, highly reminiscent of Voldemort formed out of the gasses escaping Harry's scar. It was about the size of a golf ball. Everyone was startled by its presence but no one was afraid of it. It was dying, and it was just trying to scare them.

Once the last wisp of smoke left the scar, Hermione swiped a phial of Phoenix tears and poured them down Harry's wound.

"Blood supply is 71% infected… 65%... 60%, it's speeding up, 50%... 40…30… 20…. 15… 10… 5… 2… 1… 0.5… clear. That's it."

Everyone around Harry looked at the boy lying motionless. Hermione ran another diagnostic charm.

"He's in a coma." She said, her voice shaking.

"He will wake up right?" asked Remus "Right?" he begged.

"I can't say." Said Hermione "This was almost inevitably going to happen. He will be out at least 72 hours, but probably closer to a week. After a week the chances of him waking up are about 50/50. After two weeks it's about 20%. After a month 5%."

"It can't take that long?" Ginny said desperately "Harry you've got to wake up. We're going to get married and you're not going to breakup with me again."

"I should tell you." Said Hermione "Harry knew this could happen and he told me that if he wasn't awake after 30 days, that he wanted us to…"

"That's murder…" said Ron in shock

"No…" said Hermione, with a forced calm "It's euthanasia, Harry's words not mine." Said Hermione as everyone turned to look at her. The Method had worked. The Horcrux was destroyed but Harry's survival was now in question.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry's eyes opened. "Well I guess I should have expected this." He said. "At least I have clothes this time."

Harry looked around at the distinctly white Kings Cross station. But he could not see any indication of Voldemort's soul.

"Before you say anything." Came a voice "No you are not dead."

Harry spun around. "Teddy?" he exclaimed in shock "James?"

Sure enough Harry's 8-year-old Godson and his own toddler son stood side by side by one of the archways.

"That is right." said the voice again. It was Teddy's voice and it came from Teddy's mouth but the tonality and the strength of the voice was more that of a full grown adult. It held none of the childish characteristics that Teddy normally held.

"You're also not in limbo." Said James the pair of them walked towards Harry. James was supposed to be under three. Yet his voice sounded… normal… it completely lacked the need for a parent to translate, he too spoke like a grown up, an adult. In 2006 he walked with a distinct lack of grace that was present in all children his age, yet this James walked purposefully over, as did his godbrother, with the ease of someone far older.

"I take it I'm in my coma then?" said Harry, Hermione had warned him this was more than likely going to happen.

"You are." said James

"Will I wake up?"

"That is the ultimate question isn't it?" said Teddy

"You don't know?" asked Harry

"No." said James "We do."

"You will wake up but we need to talk to you first." Said Teddy

"Uh Okay." Said Harry "What about?"

Teddy and James reached Harry. Like his children in 2006 they reached up for his hands. Instinctively Harry took them and let his children guide him. They approached the shopping area of Kings Cross and what Harry saw stunned him.

"That's me?"

Harry was shocked to see his 11-year-old self encased in a cylinder of glass. That Harry was dressed in an old pair of Dudley's pyjamas making him look even smaller than he really was.

"I looked so small back then?" said Harry, he suddenly realised that he was actually in his adult body again. He was 26.

11-year-old Harry was banging against the glass and screaming but Harry couldn't hear the sounds of the fists striking the glass or the cries that must be coming from that boy's mouth. It was odd in a way, but more than anything else it was horrible. That Harry was clearly scared, terrified. Harry wanted to go and comfort his younger self, but he could immediately tell that was not going to happen.

"He can't see us? Can he?" said Harry

"No." said Teddy

"Or hear us or know that we're here?"

"No." said James.

"What is going on?" said Harry "I'm Harry, I don't feel like that, I'm…"

"Grown up." Said Teddy

"Older, wiser, less afraid?" said James

Harry looked down.

"It's alright Uncle Harry." Said Teddy "That Harry is you but he is you from fifteen years ago. That Harry has not fought in a war, he has not even fought against a troll."

"I don't understand." Said Harry

"Don't you?" said James

Harry thought and he looked at the pyjamas that his younger self was wearing. Then it hit him. "That is the younger me. When I came back, I took over his body… and this is what happened to his mind."

"Yes." Said Teddy "His mind, like the minds of Ron and Hermione, are encased in deep inside yourself. They are trapped and they are not in control of what is happening to them."

"They're terrified." Harry said "Ron and Hermione too. We've trapped three 11-year-olds inside their own heads and used their bodies to fight Voldemort."

"I should point out that you had no control over this Dad. I should also point out that there is no other way to do this." Said James

"But that Harry is suffering… I'm suffering and Ron and Hermione are suffering."

"They are suffering but it is not your fault." Said Teddy "But you do need to know this because when your quest ends you will leave this time and you will leave three 11-year-olds behind who are scared and confused."

"What do you mean?" said Harry

"The Mirror of Emit would never dare to leave you trapped in the past." Said James "Uncle Ron was right, in order to get back to the present you need to defeat Voldemort. Once you do the Mirror shall acknowledge you and send you back."

"So there is a way back." Said Harry

"Yes but what we're talking about here is not the death of Voldemort or the route back to the present. We are talking about what happens when you leave." Said James

Harry's eyes widened "He's going to remember isn't he?" looking at the younger Harry "He's going to remember everything, about me growing up."

"He will remember bits of it, we're not sure how much he will remember. But he will know of things that could have been and may be." Said Teddy "You have seen a lot and suffered a lot growing up. This Harry is going to remember it all at once. The second you leave him behind, everything that he is and everything that he could have and may be will flow into him. And that is a lot for an 11-year-old boy to take. Even you."

"He's scared now." Said Harry "He's going to be even more terrified when I leave him."

"You're right." Said James "Ron and Hermione will be scared too."

"What we're trying to say." Said Teddy "Is that there are going to be three scared children who will need looking after. Before you go, you need to make sure everyone you love is aware of this."

"I will." Said Harry

"But there is one more thing we need to tell you." Said James "Something you must do before Voldemort draws his last breath."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

It had been 23 days since Harry entered the coma. During that time everyone was troubled. Sirius was deemed to be fit and healthy again by Hermione despite the fact that she had never had any official medical training. During that time Ron had Sirius take him to No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius and Kreacher had confronted one another and while there were still feelings of resentment they came to a mutual understanding between one another which were aided by Sirius destroying the locket. Counting Harry as a Horcrux, they were now 3 down and 3 to go.

The Twins had been most uncharacteristic. Hermione told them that despite the fact she and her boys had effectively kidnapped the pair of them from school it was no excuse not to study. They had resisted for the longest time but eventually agreed to do so, purely for some form of distraction.

Remus, the only one of them not declared missing and/or wanted by the Wizarding World was trying to keep himself as busy as possible by running errands. It was now taking him twice as long to do the shopping or fetch various items purely because he didn't want to take time to stop and think about Harry, or Sirius.

Ginny was probably hit hardest by Harry's situation. When he fell into his coma, his hand was still firmly grasping hers. She refused to let Hermione pry it off him until the sun rose. When Hermione examined Ginny's hand she discovered her pinkie was broken.

"_Episkey!_" incanted Hermione.

"Aaaah!" said Ginny in shock

"Ginny you need to sleep." Said Hermione

"I can't sleep not, after this." Snapped the 10-year-old. She laid down on the bed next to Harry, whom Hermione had put on coma support charms. "Please tell me he'll wake up."

"Ginny… I've already told you…"

"Can I sleep in here tonight? I… I want…" Ginny didn't know what she wanted. She had always fancied the Boy-Who-Lived but Harry had told her that she needed to grow up before he was her Ginny. But the problem was she was his Ginny. She might not be ready to fall in love with Harry but the spark between them had been lit.

Ginny stayed by Harry's side until exhaustion alone made her go to bed, her own bed. Despite how strong her feelings for Harry were she wasn't ready for this. After four days Ron came into the room she was sleeping in and talked with her.

"Does it bother you that my feelings for Harry are so…" asked Ginny

"Not really. He loves you, you love him." Said Ron "If I'm totally honest I was a little jealous."

"Jealous?"

"You and Harry were a much better couple than Hermione and I ever could be, this is after the war obviously, I went all out to try and make Hermione happier. She noticed and confronted me. I have for as long as I've known him been jealous of Harry. I never should have been but I was. It took me until then to truly learn why I shouldn't be jealous."

"Because it's not Harry's fault he's popular." Said Ginny

"That's half of it." Admitted Ron "The other half is that. Harry grew up without love. He grew up with the threat of Voldemort hanging over him. He grew up fighting one battle after another. When the war ended. Harry came out victorious. But his greatest victory was not his Order of Merlin, not the people proclaiming him a hero or the changing world that he helped create. Harry found his place in the world."

"His place?"

"Yup and it was right next to you." Said Ron

Ginny blushed.

"Harry grew up worrying about war and worrying about his friends being killed. When the war ended he didn't have to worry about that. He was able to stop and be a normal human being, or as normal a war hero could be."

"I'm still not sure I follow?"

"Harry needs love more than I do. Harry needs Happiness more than I do. Or at least he deserves it more. I eventually came to realise that his love for you was not because he loved you more than I loved Hermione. Hermione I love each other just as much as the two of you love each other. The only thing difference is that love means so much more to Harry than it ever could to us."

"Because you and I and Hermione grew up with love?" asked Ginny

"Yes. We Weasleys all love Harry. So we take care of him. Harry may not have fallen in love with you yet but he does love you. And there is no question in his mind, he will fall in love with you again. I believe that, so does Hermione, and I think you do to."

After her talk with her brother Ginny spent most of her time in Harry's room. She too wanted to believe that she could fall in love with him, not just because of her childhood fantasies but because of everything she'd learnt about Harry, in and out of a pensieve, and she did believe. A week after Harry fell into his coma Ginny started falling asleep in an armchair at his bedside, normally holding Harry's hand. More than a few times she woke up in her clothes in her own room after someone, no doubt Sirius or Remus, had carried her from Harry's side.

When the 23rd day came there was friction between Ginny and Ron and Hermione. They were in the middle of an argument in the lounge.

"Can't we wait a little longer?" asked Ginny

"Harry's instructions were very clear." Said Hermione "After 30 days, we stop the support charms."

"And Harry just dies." Said Ginny incredulously.

"Ginny." Said Ron "It has to be done this way. To wait longer and prolong Harry's life, is against his wishes and would be cruel. The chances of him waking up after 30 days are remote."

"So you're giving up?"

"Ginny we will only give up when Harry gives up." Said Hermione "That is after 30 days."

Ginny was about to say some more when Fred came rushing down stairs "Um Hermione, there are a bunch of weird lights flashing above Harry's head. Is that normal."

Hermione didn't answer Fred, not in a verbal sense anyway. She rushed upstairs knocking the perplexed Weasley twin over and didn't stop to apologise.

Everyone was inside Harry's bedroom. A series of yellow, red and blue flashes were spontaneously appearing out of thin air above Harry's head. Hermione ran her wand in front of them. The flashes died down and a green ball of light materialized a few inches in from of Hermione's wand.

"His blood is starting to flow on its own." Said Hermione "_Finite!_" she cancelled out one Harry's support charms.

The centre of the Green ball began flashing red.

"Right, nobody touch Harry for a second." Said Hermione. She pressed her wand at the centre of Harry's forehead and nonverbally incanted a spell that caused Harry's entire body to seize up then relax."

"Hermione was that an electric shock?" asked Remus

"Just a minor one. Just to get his neural receptors working."

"It didn't look all that minor unless…"

"I shocked his brain directly. Not enough to affect his memory but enough to stimulate the connections between his brain and the rest of his body."

Hermione then conjured up several other balls of light that began flashing and emitting different things.

"It seems that Harry's body has started to work on its own. I'm going to cancel out the rest of the support charms." Hermione waved her wand and all the lights flashing above Harry vanished. It now appeared that Harry was sleeping peacefully.

"Is it safe to touch him now?" asked Ginny

"We can do better than that." Said Hermione and she incanted one last spell "_Rennervate!_"

Harry emitted a low sounding groan.

"Harry!" yelled Ginny as everyone in the room took a collective sigh of relief. Ginny made to hug him only to be held back by Hermione.

"Easy does it, he is still very weak." Said Hermione

"Thank you Hermione for making me feel so adequate." Grunted Harry

Hermione's warning in mind Ginny carefully threw herself on Harry being careful not to crush him.

Harry using the greatest effort available to him managed to put place his hands on her back and reciprocate the hug, to some extent.

"Can someone give me my glasses?"

Remus picked them up off the bedside and gave them to Harry. Being careful not to disturbed the sobbing ten-year-old that was cuddling him, Harry regained his sight.

"How long have I been out?"

"A little over three weeks." Said Ron "23 days to be precise."

"23 days?" said Harry in shock "Ginny I'm sorry…"

"Good." She mumbled "But I'm so glad you're alive." Harry managed to gather enough strength to grip Ginny tighter.

"So what's been happening?" asked Harry

"Not a lot." Said Ron "A few days after you went under we got the locket Horcrux but that's about it."

"What about…"

"No Harry." Said Hermione "You've just regained use of your body you need to rest. Now."

"Yes Mum." Moaned Harry

"Don't you take that tone with me Harry Potter, you just risked your life and you did it with my help." Scolded Hermione, though she did have a slight smile on her face.

"Alright. Thanks… Sis." Said Harry. He relaxed his head and closed his eyes. Exhaustion was so strong he fell asleep instantly.

"Uh… can someone help me get off of him?" asked Ginny

Sirius unclasped Harry's hands from around Ginny.

"Is… is it alright if I stay here?" asked Ginny

"Yes I think Harry would like that." Said Hermione "I think we should have dinner in here tonight. Fred, George could you get some tables up here?" Before they could say anything, Hermione added further. "Yes you can use magic, no point in me stopping you, you're supposed to be in school after all."

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><p>Hope you enjoyed that. The next Chapter hopefully will be more exciting but it is the chapter after that I'm looking forward to, assuming my plan works. I'm thinking Chapter 13 will be the last chapter. Most of you can probably tell why. If you can't just count the remaining number of Voldemort's soul fragments. You know it occurs to me that Rose is now a month old, not sure how I fell about that, she was less than a week old in 2006.<p>

Once more please review.


	10. Routes of Madness and Malice

Hey all, it's one year to the day since this story was first published on this site, I'm commemorating it with an update. This is shorter than I like my chapters to be but I really can't add much more. The story: My brother is also a year old today and will be updated in a few hours or however long it takes to proofread.

As always please review.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: The Routes of Madness and Malice<p>

Harry was woken up a few hours later by Remus.

"Hey Moony." Groaned Harry "Any chance of some food?"

"That's why I'm waking you up." Said Remus "We're eating in here tonight."

Looking over Remus' shoulder, Harry saw that someone had brought a couple of tables into his room.

"Ron mentioned that you would get grumpy if we all ate then sat around you while ate, so Hermione had the twins levitate them in here."

"Yeah." Said Harry trying to get up but finding him physically incapable.

"Easy, easy." Said Remus "Hermione said that you would be in bed for at least 3 weeks."

"3 weeks?" Harry demanded "What the bloody hell." To Harry's shock he found his own heart was racing from merely getting frustrated.

"Harry?" said Remus with worry.

"I… I'm fine, I'm just…"

"Hermione said that coming back from this coma is a bit like the opposite of dying."

"That sounds like something Hermione would say." Harry agreed "Let me guess. Instead of gradually getting weaker before leaving the land of the living I get gradually stronger before I make a complete recovery."

Remus chuckled "The three of you really know each other that well."

"Yeah." Said Harry "What is today? Is it October yet?

"Not yet. Today is 29th September." Said Remus

"In about a month, at the Halloween feast. Ron and I save Hermione from a troll. That's not going to happen this time around."

"What are you trying to say Harry." Said Remus

"I'll tell you later." Said Harry "This is embarrassing but can I at least sit up to eat?"

"Of course you can." Said Remus "Do you need a hand?"

Harry scowled a bit "Yes, please." He said.

Remus held back a chuckle, Harry was really vulnerable right now so it really wasn't all that funny. They had just gotten him upright when Ron directed his siblings into the room with trays of food and drink.

"You know it occurs to me dear brother." Said George "Ickle Ronnikins has turned us into domestic servants.

"Indeed he has." Said Fred "One wonders how he managed that."

"I'm not complaining." Said Ginny "You two have been more civilized in the last four weeks than you have in all the time I can remember you. Whatever Ronnie is up to I hope he doesn't stop."

"It probably won't last forever." Said Harry "It also probably helps that we pulled the pair of them out of school before they could take any of their prank merchandise out of their trunks."

"Harry!" yelled Ginny happily. She placed her tray on the table and then rushed over and carefully pulled him into a hug.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

It took only a few more minutes for everyone to assemble. Sirius and Ginny both sat beside Harry on his bed while everyone else sat at the tables facing them.

"So what's been happening since I've been asleep, you said you got the Locket?"

"We did." Said Ron "Sirius and I went to Grimmauld Place."

"I told Kreacher that I knew what he did for my brother." Said Sirius "I also destroyed that thing personally."

"Did the two of you manage to patch up your relationship?" asked Harry

"We came to an understanding." Said Sirius "Kreacher blames me for betraying the family and leaving my mother to die alone. But I hate everything my family ever stood for. I never want to set foot in that house again, I'm going to let him take care of it."

"We had a similar arrangement." Admitted Harry "I let Kreacher look after the Black home and Ginny and I live in our own place."

"Do you live here?" asked Remus "In the future that is?"

"Here?" Asked Harry incredulously "God no this place is way too big. The only reason I never sold it was because it belonged to my Grandparents and I knew even less about them than my own parents."

"So you still own it in the future." Asked Ginny

"No, we do. You are my wife and my other half." Said Harry causing Ginny to blush. "We still visit occasionally, even just to give Dipsy some company."

"Dipsy?" snorted Fred and George.

"Hey I didn't name her." Said Harry "And she likes the name."

"She shouldn't." grumbled Hermione

"Sorry but who is Dipsy?" asked Remus "Your house-elf?"

"Yes." Said Harry "She used to belong to the Greengrass family but Mr and Mrs Greengrass were on the wrong side of the war." Said Harry "They weren't Death Eaters but they financed a lot of Voldemort's operations. They bought and provided land that was used to keep Giants in Britain. When they were put under veritaserum they also they also confessed to helping Voldemort murder Amelia Bones. They bribed her auror guards to take the night off and bribed them to get details of the Bones manor wards."

Remus and Sirius looked ready to murder.

"I know how you feel." Said Harry "Anyway they were arrested after their daughters were found fighting for the Death Eaters at the final battle. They were both really close to the Malfoys, the youngest actually married Draco."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all shivered at the idea.

"When they were found, the aurors arrested them and their parents." Said Harry "The youngest was only 15 so she was given a caution. The oldest was 18, our age. She would have gone to prison but she pleaded leniency to look after her sister. The Wizenagamot granted that leniency but the Greengrasses lost a lot of their fortune to pay for it and Daphne and Astoria's parents still went to Azkaban. Anyway they sold their manor, much of there business assets and two out of there three house-elves in order to cope. I bought Dipsy to maintain this house."

"Who bought the other elf?" asked Fred

"Was it you Ron?" asked George

"Don't be daft." Said Ron "I'm married to the founder of spew."

"Ronald." Said Hermione dangerously

"Sorry love, but you did choose an awful name." said Ron "Besides you got your reform bill in."

Hermione suddenly looked smug, causing everyone but Harry and Ron to look at her strangely

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Said Harry "But right now, what is the outside world making of us?"

"Well." Said Hermione cautiously, and Sirius suddenly looked guilty.

"What is it?" said Harry

"Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban." Said Hermione

Harry looked at her. "Yeah I know that, we helped." Then suddenly his eyes went wide "Hermione. Ron… Ginny." He was beginning to shake "Tell me right now, tell me for the love of Merlin that Fudge has not put Dementors up around Hogwarts?"

No one answered.

Harry proceeded to release a few uses of profanity that would get one thrown out of the Burrow faster than you could say Bastard.

"Shame on you Harry." Said Hermione "There is a child present."

"Rose?" said Harry, he didn't notice her.

"Ginny." Corrected Hermione, but just then they all heard a wail from another room. "Oh now you've gone and woken her up." Hermione left to collect her baby.

"Did Hermione just call me a child?" said Ginny

"You are a child." Said Ron, "Your only ten."

Ginny glared at her brother.

"What is that… idiot thinking." Said Harry

"Harry calm down." Said Ron "Fudge is an idiot, but we can't focus on that right now. All our priorities are away from Hogwarts. They must think we'll be back."

"Why would you guys go back to Hogwarts, there's nothing left there for you to attend to?" said Remus

"They don't know that." Said Hermione carrying her daughter. "Harry apologies for waking up my baby."

"Sorry Hermione, sorry Rose." Said Harry

"Thank you." Smiled Hermione "As I was saying the Ministry and the Order don't know what we're up to. All they know is that we broke into Hogwarts and then broke out. The ministry has specifically ordered the creatures to search for us and capture us. Same goes for Sirius. Although why the ministry thinks they can trust a horde of soul suckers is beyond me."

"But we can all produce corporal Patroni." Said Harry

"They don't know that. The ministry has no idea we were involved at Azkaban. Dumbledore will at least suspect we're not as powerless as we should be, but even he has no reason to accuse us of what happened. He still believes that Sirius is a traitor and we've not shown any evidence to him that we are capable of producing Patroni. To top it all off the Prophet released an article suggesting someone betrayed Azkaban secrets and that there is an insider at either the prison or the ministry."

"Now that you mention the idea, it does sound more convincing than the concept of us being involved." Harry conceded "Out of interest what's the Quibbler been publishing?"

"That we could have decided to abandon all prospects of a Hogwarts education in favour of a search for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and that Sirius Black was broken out by men working for the Department of Mysteries because he has information crucial to combatting the Rotfang Conspiracy." Said Hermione

"So what is your next move going to be?" asked Remus

"I'm not sure." Admitted Hermione "All three of the remaining Horcruxes are located in places with heavy defences. The ones at the Gaunt Shack eventually killed Professor Dumbledore. Our plan to get out of Gringotts…."

"Was Brilliant." Said Fred

"But it was dangerous and brought us more misery from the Goblins after the war." Said Hermione

"But it was still brilliant." Said George

"Actually what happened with all that?" said Remus "The Goblins can't have been too pleased with what you three did."

"They weren't." said Harry "They tried to confiscate my inheritance and have all three of us extradited to the Goblin nation. But…"

"We couldn't tell everyone the full details about the horcruxes but we did tell them that we were on a quest to take down items that Voldemort was using to keep himself alive." Said Hermione "After the war, all texts that contained instructions on how to create a horcrux were gathered up and destroyed by the aurors, although texts that told one how to destroy a horcrux were left alone. The decision by the Ministry and the Order was to permanently keep finer details about what Voldemort did secret. The official story only tells people that there were some unspecified items that were keeping Voldemort alive."

"Just as well. The Ravenclaws probably would have lynched us had they known about the Diadem." Said Ron

"The point is." Said Harry "We told the Goblins that one of these items was inside Lestranges vault. Of course they weren't happy, they claimed that they were neutral in the war and that we had no right breaking in. But Minister Shacklebolt told them that the Goblins ceased to be neutral when they allowed such an item to be stored in the vault."

"But they didn't know." Said Ginny "Did they?"

"They didn't know it was a Horcrux but they knew that the Lestranges considered it of important and that it was important to Voldemort." Said Ron

"The point was that the Goblins were aiding Voldemort by hiding the cup. Kingsley asked the Goblins if they would have handed us the cup had we requested. They refused to answer but it became clear that the only other option we would have had was to declare war on the Goblins and the leadership on their side were forced to reluctantly accept that we a better alternative." Said Harry

"Harry you have a lot riding on the Goblins right now." Said Remus. "Are you sure you know what you're doing."

"Yes." Said Harry "In fact if I knew then what I know now the three of us would probably have formed a similar plan. The Goblins will never know what happens, even if they discover the cup missing they'll never know that I was responsible."

"Are you going to do that one next?" asked Remus

"I could do, but the one I want to do right now is the one in Little Hangleton."

"The ring?" said Hermione

"Yeah, I'm going to need a little time to plan a few finer details for the cup anyway. No one will show up at the Gaunt Shack so it seems ideal." Said Hermione

"What are you going to do about the Diary?" asked Ginny

"That one is going to be tricky." Admitted Harry "To make things simpler we're going to have to wait until at least Lucius is out of Malfoy Manor. We know roughly what wards are in place, but not precisely. If we make a mistake it would be better if no one other than Dobby is around."

Hermione frowned "Poor Dobby, it's a shame we can't do anything to get him out of there."

"When my name is cleared I might be able to arrange to buy him." Said Sirius. "But Malfoy will probably end up buying another one and abusing it the same way."

"Out of interest did the Malfoy's go to prison?" asked Fred

"No." said Harry "I have to concede that Narcissa saved my life in the Forest. She is a foul woman who would sacrifice the life of every other person in the world to save her son, despite what he does. Draco was a bully and bigot in school and he is an even bigger one as an adult, but he didn't kill anyone in the war and his use of illegal magic was done so out of fear. Lawyers working for the family managed to get Draco and Narcissa off on cautions, but both have lifelong restriction orders and Draco has to have his wand checked twice a week by a law officer for evidence of dark magic. Both of them also has to confirm under truth serum whether he has used another wand or committed any crimes once every 2 months."

"That sounds quite harsh." Said George "Good. What about Senior?"

"He was initially sentenced to life in prison but he has become so hated by both former Death Eaters and those who fought with us that he kept getting beaten up, 7 guards got transferred from Azkaban for their complicity in a few instances. In our timeline he is confined to his residence at all times, he is not aloud out without an Auror Escort nor is he allowed to have interactions with anyone outside the Malfoy family without prior approval from the Auror office."

"So he's confined to his home." Said Sirius "Considering everything he's done he got off lucky… too lucky."

"This is for life." Said Harry "The Malfoy's have also been booted from the Wizenagamot and all three of them have lifelong bans taking up jobs in the ministry or having dealings with them. The best thing though is that Lucius is not allowed to ever use, possess or own a wand. That is for life."

Sirius smiled "Does he get checked for that like his son?"

"Every day." Said Harry "A law officer has to come by daily and conduct checks on the him. He can only take veritaserum once a week, anymore and it would damage his health, but the law officer has to feed him a minor truth serum the other 6 days. Any breach of the conditions and he goes to solitary confinement in Azkaban, permanatly."

"Lifelong solitary confinement?" said Remus "That would drive anyone insane."

"That's why he's under house arrest. He can't go in the regular prison and fining him is not enough to ensure he avoids the Dark Arts so he's got all these lifelong restrictions." Said Harry

"Actually the wand part isn't the best." Said Ron "I think the fines are."

"Fines?" asked Remus

"Well 'taking care' of the Malfoy family requires a lot of effort on our part as members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Said Harry "Malfoy is fined about 100,000 Galleons a month. 10,000 goes to the DMLE to make up for the cost of his house arrest, the rest is distributed to help victims of the war. Werewolf support groups, squib support groups, families of loved ones who fell as a result of the war; quite a lot of the money has actually gone to help support muggle children who have lost parents to Death Eater muggle-baiting, because most of the people Lucius killed during the war were muggles."

"So Malfoy money is going to support Muggles?" said Sirius, "I wonder if we can get a similar arrangement in this time."

"We can dream." Said Remus.

"We might be able to help." Said Ron "We know where Malfoy's dark arts collections are kept. If we can give the details to the right person we can get them into a whole world of trouble."

"I suggest you give the details to Amelia Bones." Said Remus "She is the most powerful person in Magical Britain who cannot be directly influenced by Malfoy."

"We can have you and Sirius give her the details." Said Harry "We're here to stop Voldemort. Then we're going home."

"What if you're staying?" said Sirius "There might not be a way back?"

Harry regarded his godfather "We are going back. As soon as Voldemort is gone for good, we're going to regain our adult bodies and return to our timeline."

Everyone looked at Harry as if he had grown an extra head.

"Harry have you had another near death experience?" said Hermione

"Yes and what I saw was not comforting." Said Harry "I'm sorry Sirius but at the end of this you're going to have one very scared and very confused 11-year-old Godson to look after."

Harry explained everything he learnt in his coma.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry recovered very slowly over the days and weeks as September became October. So slowly that it wasn't for another ten days he could walk.

"I swear people who have been in comas for years and wake up can walk better than this." Grumbled Harry as with Fred and George support him, he carefully walked down the First floor hall of the Manor.

"Well at least you can walk some." Said Fred

"At least you can now use the toilet." Said George jokingly.

It was not well received.

"Ouch. Harry that's child abuse!" as Harry smacked the larger boy over his head.

"Is not. I'm 11." Said Harry vindictively he tried to hit George again, only for the twin to jump out of reach.

George had touched a sore subject. Harry hadn't been able to get out of bed so he had to perform a charm on his…area's to vanish any… mess. As someone in his late 20s, purposefully doing that was very disturbing.

"Right I can make it from here." Said Harry outside the toilets.

Ten minutes later the twins helped him back to bed.

Hermione had explained that because his body had ingested so much Basilisk venom his blood had essentially ceased flowing and he had to let it get back up to flow. Whenever he stood he felt light headed and his limbs shook violently whenever they underwent too much pressure, such as trying to independently support his weight.

It was 15th October when before Harry could walk independently around the manor, but occasionally even this was sometimes too much for him and on one occasion, he was wandering in the garden alone with Ginny, he collapsed from exhaustion and had to be carried to his room by Sirius and Remus.

This made Harry very grumpy and bad tempered. When they first arrived back in time, they made good progress: they set up headquarters in Potter Manor; they'd contacted Remus (and inadvertently Ginny); they retrieved the Philosophers Stone, the Sword of Gryffindor, the Diadum and a large portion of basilisk venom (as well as inadvertently the Twins) from Hogwarts and the had broken Sirius out of Azkaban. Three Horcruxes destroyed and a dangerous artefact secured along with the materials necessary to destroy the remaining Horcruxes. Since that first week they had been unable to do anything.

Only Harry could retrieve the cup without starting a Wizarding War with the Goblins and the other two Horcruxes were heavily protected and it would take all three members of the Golden Trio to overcome them. Put simply Harry was essential to the mission and for over 6 weeks now no more progress had been made.

Five days after collapsing in the Garden, Hermione gave Harry an examination.

"You're doing really well now Harry." She said "By tomorrow I think you'll be able to battle a dragon again if the need arises."

"I'll bear that in mind." Said Harry

Hermione looked at the boy she adopted as her brother so long ago and pulled him into a tight hug. "I know this has been hard for you Harry, I know that you hate feeling helpless but this is nearly over. We did the urgent stuff during our first week back and now we've done the hardest part, getting you Horcrux free without killing you. Tomorrow I want you to have a practice duel with Ron and I. If you perform alright then I think we're ready to go to the Gaunt Shack."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry, encourage by Hermione's words looked a lot brighter over the next 24 hours. The following day they took up positions in the ball room.

"Isn't it a bit unfair, two on one?" asked Ginny

"No." said Ron and Hermione

"It's the only way these two can win." Said Harry

"But in Hogwarts the three of you seemed unstoppable?" said Fred

"Yeah you beat Dumbledore and all his staff and students." Said George

Harry felt himself go into Auror instructor mode "Firstly the three of us are a team. When we work together the three of us are more individually more formidable than we would be on our own or with others. Secondly Dumbledore was not in a team. He fought with students and teachers helping, but for the most part that battle was uncoordinated, 3 working together as a team will fight much more effectively than a mob of 30. As beaters surely the both of understand that."

Fred and George nodded, using there twin magic they were the most formidable pair of beaters Harry had ever met.

"The reason that both of us are duelling against Harry is because… he's Harry Potter." Said Ron "This is the only way we're able to win."

Harry decidedly said nothing. He was a little modest about his own skills. Very few people could produce a corporal patronus and even fewer could produce one that chased off over a hundred Dementors, the fact that he managed this with Draco Malfoy's wand in the despair of the battle also made it all the more incredible. In 2006 the only other person the trio knew who could conjure such a patronus was Aberforth Dumbledore.

Harry's skills as a duellist had developed from a mixture of natural talent and having so many people wanting to kill him.

"Ok let's do this." Said Harry

Ron and Hermione nodded and fired their stunners silently and simultaneously.

Harry dropped himself to the floor so they roared over him. "_Flipendo Maxima!_"

Ron and Hermione were engulfed in a fireworks display of red sparks. It was a good move, one Harry had come to perfect.

Unfortunately it was also one his best friends had come to understand.

"_Protego!_" incanted Ron shielding himself and his wife from the attack

Hermione fired a leg locker jinx at Harry who then used his own shield charm. The jinx was deflected off his shield and smacked itself into Ginny.

Harry sent a series of stunners at the pair of them, a technique he was most proficient at, Ron had some skill at it but nowhere near as good as Harry.

The duel continued for about 15 minutes before Harry managed to get a body bind on Ron and without her partner supporting her Harry's barrage of jinxes, hexes and stunners eventually overwhelmed Hermione.

With Hermione unconscious and Ron in a body bind Harry was the winner.

"Well it's nice you can still beat both of us." Said Ron once Harry released him.

"It is good to be back to full strength." Said Harry happily He cast _Rennervate_ on Hermione.

"Right Harry since you're obviously your better self again, I think we should go to Little Hangleton tomorrow." Said Hermione

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Muggle world was also informed of the disappearance of Harry, Ron and Hermione but a few charms here and there made the three of them unrecognizable to the locals.

While Harry was in his coma, Sirius had healed up and by this stage had been relegated to babysitting, allowing Remus to join the trio in Little Hangleton.

"This place feels a little…" said Remus

"Small?" said Harry, Remus shrugged "That was the word I came up with."

"You came here?" said Remus "I never saw it in the Pensieve, well except for the memory of that man going to visit the Gaunts."

"It happened after the war." Said Hermione "What many people forget is that most of those killed by Voldemort both in the First and Second Wars were muggles and countless others were victimized in some way."

"Around here there is a muggle called Frank Bryce." Said Harry "In this timeline he is still alive. He worked for Voldemort's muggle father and his parents as a gardener. That's the house up there." He pointed to a manor in disrepair at the top of a hill overlooking the village.

"That?" said Remus "It looks like it's falling apart."

"It is." Said Harry "The current owner bought it to save having to pay large amounts of taxes, of course he was eventually sent to prison for financial fraud by the muggle authorities."

"This Frank Bryce, where is he?" asked Remus

"He lives in the Gardeners cottage near the house. He's still paid to care for the gardens." Said Harry "He was accused of the murders, the police couldn't prove he did it, or even that the Riddle's were murdered but the entire village still believes he did. The Poor bloke lived an isolated life here and has since the 1940s when this happened. Voldemort was only 16 at the time."

"When Harry heard about Frank Bryce and others he sought to honour these victims in some way." Said Hermione "We couldn't tell the people here that the Riddles were killed by a Wizard but Harry stood up in their community centre and told them an edited version of Tom Riddle Junior and his relation to the Riddle family."

"I've always felt sorry for Frank Bryce." Said Harry "He never got his peace in life. He suffers even now, because everyone here thinks he's a murderer."

"His name was cleared after Voldemort died in your time." Said Remus "Sirius and I will make sure it's cleared this time as well. But this time we'll tell it to him personally. No after death apologies."

Harry smiled "Thanks, that means a lot."

"Harry went round other victims to." Said Ron "Hermione, Ginny and I went with him for all of them. So did Kingsley. But we started here and it was broadcast live over the muggle TV."

"We toured around for 6 weeks acknowledging everyone." Said Harry "We made Voldemort out to be a psychopath with access to a science lab to help explain away some of the instances."

"Really such as what?" asked Remus

Harry proceeded "Well with the Riddles there was no obvious cause of death so we told the Muggles that he used a special poison that is difficult to trace and the only way to confirm it was used was to take bone marrow samples. Then there was this junior member of the muggle government who was put under a failed Imperius Curse, we told him, and parliament publically that he was administered with a drug that turns the mind inside out. I might have inadvertently salvaged his ministerial career, when the next election came he was elected with a majority of 25,000 votes. His daughter was nice though, she was eight when I made the announcement. She presented me with a crown made of daisies."

Ron and Hermione laughed at the reminder of what happened. The four of them made their way through the village to the Gaunt Shack.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"I don't see anything." Said Remus looking at an empty patch in the woods "Are you sure this isn't just a clearing."

"No it's here." Said Harry "There is no other clearing anywhere near here and Ogden's memory put it around here."

"Is it under a Fidelius Charm?" asked Remus

"No." said Harry "A Fidelius Charm needs at least two people involved before it can be cast. Tom wouldn't have trusted anyone with this location, because asides from the Horcrux issue ,he is not the least bit proud of his parental origins, including the Gaunts."

Harry began lifting his wand up and down through the air, casting a series of Diagnostic Charms.

"Oh he is good." Said Harry "There is only a very slight disturbance, easy to dismiss as nothing. Everyone start casting."

All four of them began their own investigations. Remus had never been an Auror so he didn't know some of the spells that the Trio had been taught by the ministry but he did have his own Mastery in Defence Against the Dark Arts, among other things, so he wasn't a complete novice.

"I have something." Said Hermione "I think it's a modified Disillusionment Charm."

"Can you take it down?" asked Harry

"No but I think I can fudge it a little." She said, she began incanting several different spells. Then the outline of the house began visible and, while it was still see-through, they could all plainly see the house, or rather the ruins.

"Boy it looks like it's fallen into disrepair." Said Ron

"Yes." Said Harry "Let's see if we can get some of these protections off."

The four of them began casting a series of curse-breaker charms that wore down the enchantments. Soon the modified Dissolution Charm failed and the ruins of the shack were plain to see.

"There is a rather strong shield in place." Said Remus "Shall we try breaking it down?"

"I think so." Said Harry "But let me test it first." He pointed his wand "_Confringo!_" his explosion curse struck the shield, causing the outline of the entire protection to waver and show itself."

"I think it's repairing itself." Said Ron "Yeah the Shield is recharging."

"There must be a rune stone inside keeping it running." Said Hermione

"Remus do you know the procedure for breaking down a shield?" asked Harry

"I wasn't aware of one no." said Remus

"Well it's an auror protocol, we all need to take positions surrounding the shield and use synchronized attacks to bring the shields down." Said Harry

"Alright." Said Remus.

The four of them surrounded the dwelling from four separate sides. The purpose was to attack from all sides, spreading the shields defences thin, and wearing it down. During the Battle of Hogwarts the Death Eaters wore the Protective Shield down by bombarding it all across the surfaces. Because, Flitwick a master of defensive magic, cast it and because many others in the castle contributed by strengthening the shield, it took a little time for Voldemorts forces to break into Hogwarts. But they did.

Harry and the others couldn't cover the entire surface of this shield with their attack but they could do a sufficient job.

"Get ready everyone." Said Harry. They all pointed their wands directly in front of themselves. "We'll do this in groups of three." He said "One… Two… Three."

"_CONFRINGO!_" they all incanted striking the shield with their Explosion Curses. Although the first wave didn't break the shield it was clear that it was under and incredible amount of strain as the struck surfaces glowed a deep reddish brown and the unhit areas lost their colour.

"One, two, three." Said Harry

"CONFRINGO!"

The second time the shield still held. But the third time they fired, the curses broke through the shield and struck the shack. The walls crumbled along with the foundations and the entire thing came down like a stack of cards.

"Right everyone over here." Called Harry as the other defences began acting up. A dozen fire snakes appeared out of the rubble and began slithering towards them. They all joined up at Harry who started spraying them with water from his wand. It wasn't entirely ineffective, but in order to kill a snake, Harry had to hold the stream of water on it for 5 seconds straight. The fact that there were a dozen of them and the spell was short range made this particularly difficult.

"Remus help me kill the snakes, Ron aim for the ones at the back but keep an eye out for other surprises, Hermione try and keep them away from us." Said Harry

Remus joined him in spraying the fire snakes. Hermione began blasting the ground in front of them and beneath the snakes in order to slow them down. By forcing them into holes in the ground she inadvertently helped Harry and Remus, who used the opportunity to drown several Snakes in the holes in the ground."

Ron meanwhile was targeting the snakes at the back of the column but keeping an eye on the ruins of the shack. Suddenly a Flagrance Curse shot out at Harry but Ron managed to block it. He sent back his own Flagrance Curse as he once more faced off against a sentry protection spell.

"Ok that's the last of them." Said Remus "What is Ron fighting?"

"It's called…"

"Later Hermione." Said Harry "Ron will deal with it, we need to go on the offensive. _Expulso!_" he incanted at the ruined roof of the shack. The roof tiles exploded, a few more blasting curses and most of the debris was knocked into the forest.

"_Depulso!_" incanted Hermione, knocking more of it out of the way.

"There!" said Remus "That looks like the Rune stone."

Harry noticed it "Alright redactor curses on Three. One, Two, Three."

"REDUCTO!"

Three redactor curse his a stone block with Runes carved into it. The Rune stone was used to ward the shack against intruders. All the protections that were still up around the ruins collapsed except for the Sentry that Ron was duelling.

The Sentry sent an impaling curse at Ron who sidestepped to avoid it and sent back his own "_Confodisti!_"

The curse impacted the sentry, it vanished. Ron stood there for a minute before he was sure it was not coming back.

"Bloody show off." Said Ron breathing a sigh of relief "Standard Sentry has five spells, Dumbledore has six. Tom bloody Riddle? Ten! Who gives a sentry a repertoire of ten spells.

"Well you did brilliantly Ron." Said Harry

"You sure did." Said Hermione "Those things can overwhelm and kill a person. But you've defeated one made by Voldemort and another made by Dumbledore."

Ron smiled "So the Ring, I want to get out of here. Duelling those things is exhausting."

"Right." Said Harry. He cast some more diagnostic spells. "There is some magic still about over here." He pointed towards what was left of the kitchen. There was a cupboard that was remarkable intact… and locked.

"_Alohomora!_" incanted Hermione. Nothing happened "I have no idea why I ever thought that would work.

"We could try picking the lock?" suggested Ron

"Really Ron?" said Harry "Even if we wanted the thing undamaged, which we don't, the thing can't be damaged by any spell I cast." Harry aimed his wand at the cupboard and Hermione, knowing what he was going to do, got out of the way "_Confringo!_"

With one last Explosion Curse, Harry blew the cupboard up. The only thing left undamaged by the spell was the ring of Marvolo Gaunt, Voldemorts Grandfather.

Hermione pulled a set of tongs out her bag and a flask that she had modified earlier that day. She lifted the ring off the ground and put it inside the container, then closed the lid.

"We're done." She said "Let's go home."

The others agreed and they apparated back to Potter Manor.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"So who wants to destroy this one?" Harry said indicating the ring.

"Sirius and I have destroyed one already." Said Remus

"I guess I'll do it." Said Fred

He picked up the sword from the coffee table. Hermione put the ring on the floor.

Fred raised the sword of Gryffindor above his head and swung it down. The Ring cracked in half and a screaming Voldemort head made of gases erupted from the remains.

"Well that's interesting." Said Fred "What should we do with this?" he asked indicating the stone that had been encased in the ring.

"Destroy it." Said Harry "The dead should not…"

"Harry the mirror." Said Hermione

The Mirror of Emit floated off its place on the coffee table and into the air, glowed and a magical light shone from it onto the Resurrection Stone engulfing it. The Stone was tractored into the mirror and passed through the reflective glass. The mirror then ceased glowing and lowered itself back onto the coffee table.

"I guess the mirror doesn't want the resurrection stone destroyed." Said Ron "It seems to know what it wants us to do and seems hell bent on guiding us."

"But why keep the resurrection stone from being destroyed?" said Harry

"I'm sure more of this will become clear soon enough." Said Hermione. "For now I think we should celebrate, we're down another Horcrux and we only have two more to get."

"Whoooooooo!" shouted the twins "Party time, party time."

* * *

><p>If any of you are the least bit interested I have a one-shot called Setting the Record Straight in which Harry after the war tells the people of Little Hangleton that Frank Bryce was innocent and Tom Riddle killed his father and Grandparents. What was mentioned in this chapter is directly related to what happened in that one-shot. I personally asked the admin people on this site to add Frank Bryce to the character list so I could publish the story.<p>

Ok the next chapter should be really exciting, for me at least. This story hasn't got much more to go through before it's finished, I've never finished a story on here before (unless you count the one-shots).


	11. Carpet Retractum

The title of this chapter comes from the Prisoner of Azkaban Video Game (GC) although I have altered the spell description slightly.

I should tell you that last week I lost all my fanfiction documents but managed to recover the file that was four days old. Despite that though I lost probably about 6,000 to 8,000 words. Most of which are a new Symphonia crossover but my new chapters for My Brother, Jessica Black and the Boy Who Lived and The Realm of Passing are now going to be delayed slightly. In the case of the Realm I lost the entire chapter I had managed to write up to that point (over 2,000 words) So if you read my others stories and you come to wonder what's going on, that's what's going on.

This story was largely unaffected as I wasn't working on it during those four days, so please enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Warning one use of strong language.<br>**

Chapter 11: Carpet Retractum

"No way." Said Ron loudly

"Absolutely not." Said Hermione "If you think we're letting you go into Gringotts alone…"

"Hermione this is not about me trying to protect you, or Ron." Said Harry "This will be easier if it's just me. You can't come into the bank because if more people than me come along there is a greater chance we'll get noticed and you can't hang about outside the bank because you could get noticed by someone who then tips off either Dumbledore or the Ministry which in turn will cause all sorts of trouble and I won't know about it until I get out of the bank."

"Assuming this crazy plan of yours works." Said Ron "Not that I don't think it will, it's totally brilliant. The Goblins will never know we took the cup."

"Not we." Said Harry "Me."

"Harry Potter." Said Hermione

"I think Harry is right." Said Ginny

It was the afternoon the day after they had retrieved and destroyed Marvolo's Ring and Remus, Sirius and the Weasleys who hadn't travelled in time were enjoying a show of Harry arguing with his two best friends.

"I know the two of you don't want to be left out, but this sounds like Harry's task." Said Ginny "It sounds like bringing either of you along would not help matters."

"I must also concur." Said Remus "This isn't a case of fighting ones way to the Horcrux, this is a case of extracting the Horcrux without being seen in the process. Harry going alone makes the most sense."

Ron and Hermione glared.

"Can you two say honestly you would do anything other than get in his way?" said Ginny

The two of them turned their glares to Ginny but didn't answer. They begrudgingly admitted defeat.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

If all went to plan Harry should be back at Potter Manor within the hour. But even the best made plans tend not to work out the way we intend.

He apparated directly outside Gringotts Bank, in hairy dwarf disguise, and made his way into the building. It only took a few minutes of waiting but he met the Goblin teller and again arranged for a private meeting.

"Mr Potter?" said the Senior Goblin

"Hello. I'm sorry to come at short notice but I need to find something in the Potter Vault. I don't know how long it will take for me to find it but…"

"Understood." Said the Goblin "I'll send you down with Griphook."

Harry internally cringed at that. He wondered if it was a sign of something going wrong that Griphook would, albeit unknowingly, aide him in stealing from the Lestranges.

Harry was taken down by cart alongside Griphook to where the old Family Vaults were.

"Do not fear the Dragon Mr Potter." Said Griphook "He is trained to expect pain at the noise of the clangers." He began shaking the device and Harry witnessed, probably the same poor-sighted Dragon as last time backing away.

The pair of them made their way up a set of stairs.

"Vault F06, the Potter family vault." Said Griphook. He ran his finger down the door and it slid open.

"Thank you." Said Harry "I'll try not to take too long."

Harry knew exactly where what he was looking was. A copy of the Potter Family Will. It was largely irrelevant in the scheme of things it merely told Harry that he was sole heir to the family fortune and held legal rights to his Grandparents house and the ruins of the house in Godric's Hollow along with a ruling stating that his custody was to be granted to Sirius in the event of his parents being unable to fulfil their roles.

The Vault contained mountains upon mountains of gold in it, as well as dozens of filing cabinets. Wizards tended not to hang onto legal or financial documents, they merely sent them to be stored in Gringotts and went to get them should they need them. Harry was well aware that documents for his father, his Grandparents and his ancestors stretching back to the First Wizard Born Potter in Medieval times were all here. He made a show of opening several filing cabinets before 'accidentally' finding it will. He cast a Gemino Charm on the document and put the copy in his rucksack.

"All finished Mr Potter?"

"Yes thank you." Said Harry. He stepped out of the vault so Griphook could seal it. The Goblin led the way back towards the stairs when Harry pointed his wand.

"_Imperio!_" Harry incanted.

Griphook suddenly found himself at the mercy of an 11-year-old boy who knew an unforgivable.

"I really am sorry about this." Said Harry "For what little it's worth I take no pleasure from it and I do not do this out of greed or to insult Goblins. It's just a necessity."

Harry directed Griphook towards the Lestrange's Vault which was just round the a few vaults away. Vault F09.

Griphook drug his finger down the door and Harry was greeted with the familiar site of the spoils of the Lestrange Family. Harry decided, after what happened in the other timeline, not to enter the vault. They tried summoning the cup last time, but that didn't work as the defences in the vault could easily prevent that charm from taking effect. But there was another, more basic charm that would do the trick.

Harry glanced into the vault and saw Hufflepuff's cup. Sitting on the same ledge as it did the last time. He trained his wand and incanted:

"_Carpet Retractum!_"

A magical rope sprung out of Harry's wand and rapped four times around the handle of the cup. With a single harsh tug Harry dragged it rapidly through the air. It didn't have a chance to hit the floor or any of the other items in the vault. The cup dangled from Harry's wand and he dropped it in his rucksack.

"Sorry about this Griphook." Said Harry "But you won't remember this when we're finished."

Harry had him close the vault then guided the Goblin back to the Potter Vault and had him open it again. Then Harry wiped his memory of the Imperius and then gave him a modified memory of it taking longer than it actually did to find what was in his family vault.

"Sorry that took so long." Said Harry "I found what I needed."

"That's quite alright Mr Potter." Said Griphook, not displaying any signs of remembering the enforced side trip to the Lestrange's Vault. "If you will follow me I shall take you back to the surface."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

When Harry got out of the bank in his Hairy Dwarf disguise it took all his effort not cry out in joy. Admittedly robbing a bank once each on two different timelines was not something to be proud of, one could not deny it was an impressive feat.

The item was in Harry's backpack, all that remained was to apparate back to Potter Manor.

But something was wrong.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Golden Trio did not know this but before they forcibly bought Ron and Ginny's wands in Ollivander's Wand Shop, the owner of said shop had seen three hairy dwarves enter an alley nearby.

Dumbledore realised that Harry and his friends must have used glamour charms to get about Wizarding locations without being recognised. He knew that if the three of them did not know this disguise had been compromised they would use it again so he quietly asked members of the Order to be on the lookout for the hairy dwarves.

This request had finally paid off. One was seen going into Gringotts. Albus got some of his best associates to come with him to Diagon Alley, set up anti-apparation and anti-portkey wards and had them watch the three alleyways leading to the bank.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

It didn't take Harry long to realised someone at least suspected he was in Diagon Alley. There were three streets that converged on Gringotts. The one in front of the bank's main entrance led through the main shopping area to the Leaky Cauldron, the one on Harry's left led to the access way to Knockturn Alley and the one on his right led to the corporate area where the Daily Prophet offices, amongst other, were located.

Harry looked at each of them quickly enough to realise that each had at least two witches or wizards standing as if waiting for someone.

He did the only thing he could, he ran behind one of the pillars on the bank and put on his Invisibility Cloak. Harry's only chance was to get through the crowd before someone noticed an invisible person was in their presence. Harry didn't know where the anti-apparation ward ended so his best bet was to find a fireplace. He knew there was one in Knocturn Alley but that alley was too narrow to sneak through using the cloak without knocking into someone and he would easily get noticed, although maybe not as Harry Potter, and be confronted by an unpleasant witch or wizard.

Harry did not know of any floo area near the Prophet offices and he didn't want to risk barging through the offices in case he was challenged.

The best bet appeared to be the route to the Leaky Cauldron, which would also be the route where a trap was most likely set.

With that in mind Harry chanced the route to the Leaky. He got halfway towards the people who looked like they were watching for them when he realised that one was Arthur Weasley, the other was Mad-Eye Moody, with particular emphasis on the magical eye.

Harry had just processed this information when he noticed Mad-Eye say something to Arthur and gesture in his direction. Harry realised with horror where the magical eye was looking. He was discovered. He backed away and began jogging back up towards the Bank. His senses just in time detected magic heading his way.

He rolled onto the ground letting the stunner fly over him. Arthur Weasley was a good Dueller in his own right but Mad-Eye was in a class way higher. A veteran of the First War it had taken Voldemort to defeat the aging Auror during the Battle above Little Whinging.

That information in mind Harry fired a stunner at Arthur which hit before he could mount a defence. He was out of the battle for now, but Harry was now facing Moody.

"Come on out." Barked the Auror, by this stage people were running away from the apparent battle taking place in the middle of Diagon Alley. "I can see you and that cloak is not going to…"

"Harry fired a stunner at the Auror, who easily blocked it."

"You want to try something more than that kid?"

Did Harry want to try something more deadly than a stunner? No of course not, it was bad enough Moody was killed at the same time as his beloved Hedwig, but Harry did give a little variation.

"_Pertrificus Totalus!_" incanted Harry

But Moody blocked that as well.

"Come on I said more than a stunner not less than."

Harry didn't have time for this. If Moody was here it meant that others weren't far behind, including Dumbledore, and now that the old man knew Harry was a more than capable wizard, Harry was not so sure he could best him this time, certainly not at the same time as Moody. He had to take out the Auror quickly, but thanks to that eye of his Harry couldn't use the element of surprise the cloak gave.

"_That's it!_" thought Harry

Mad-Eye began conjuring ropes out of his wand at the invisible assailant. Harry countered with a series of severing charms.

"Not bad kid. You could make a good Auror some…"

"_Accio!_" incanted Harry

To Moody's shock his magical eye shot out of his socket and rolled across the alley.

His brief moment of shock was enough for Harry to get a good stunner in and Mad-Eye fell unconscious.

Harry began to run towards the Leaky when he noticed that he had taken too long with Moody. Dumbledore emerged from the pub. Harry knew that the Headmaster had always found him under his invisibility cloak before. Hermione explained after the war he was most likely non-verbally incanting the _Homenum Revellio_ spell and Harry had to conclude that she was right.

Dumbledore was taking no chances this time round. Using the wand he had won 46 years ago he fired a series of stunners that Harry had to drop to the ground to avoid. The advantage Harry had in the instance was, that unlike Moody, Dumbledore could not tell when Harry crouched. Nor could he get his exact position, making a clear shot difficult.

Harry had to buy time to figure a way out of this. He didn't return fire, so Dumbledore could not make out his position.

Harry risked a glance back toward the bank. A group of about five witches and wizards were blocking that path. Harry recognised Tonks and Shacklebolt, but did not have time to identify the other three. He was completely trapped. It wouldn't be long before they found his position, even if they stunned every square meter of stone in Diagon Alley. Harry then realised he could get help from above.

He decided this was a good a time as any to try this method of escape, as he looked up at Quality Quidditch Supplies.

He non-verbally incanted "_Accio Nimbus!_" A Broom like the one that had won him his first Quidditch game, smashed its way out of the window and landed on top of Harry.

Not wasting a second, Harry hugged the broom through the cloak's material and accelerated off the ground and into the air.

"Dumbledore tried to stop him with some stunners but Harry managed to perform enough shield charms and barrel rolls to avoid the Headmaster. Diagon Alley was soon behind him.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

But Harry's troubles were far from over. He flew as far away and as fast as he could from London, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't apparate. This meant one of two things, one: someone had place an anti-aparation charm over the whole of Britain, or two. It was the same charm and it was following him.

A glance over his shoulder confirmed his second theory. Dumbledore had really come prepared, thestral and all. There was no way Harry could outrun a thestral on a broomstick. He had to try something else. Harry's cloak was useless, it could never cover him up enough on a broom to keep Dumbledore from spotting him. He stuffed it into his rucksack just before Dumbledore entered spell fire range and it began.

Muggles would spend that day looking up wondering where all these fireworks were coming from.

Harry realised his best shot at this stage was to target the thestral. It bothered him that Dumbledore could get injured if the creature fell from the sky, but the headmaster knew enough magic to survive a fall of a thousand feet, or however high this was.

"_Impedimentia!_"

Harry aimed for the thestral but Dumbledore blocked the spell and sent back his own variant of the Jinx. Harry taking full advantage of the broom he was on barrel rolled out the way. Had it not been for his daring incursion into Hogwarts the previous month and the fact that he had held his own despite being surround by wizards with good to expert experience in combat, Dumbledore would have been shocked at Harry's skills on a broom. Yes this boy would one day be a Quidditch star, but Dumbledore had to catch him first.

Harry fired off several more stunners at the thestral but Dumbledore kept on shielding his stead. Harry then tried something else.

"_Flipendo Maxima!_"

Harry's enhanced red sparks spell worked for a time, Dumbledore was forced to slow down and shield himself and his stead, but he soon regained the ground he lost and repeated uses of the _Flipendo_ spell proved useless as Dumbeldore maintained a heavy shield charm in a bubble around himself and his stead and rammed into everything Harry threw at him.

Dumbledore had ceased casting his spells now and was seeking to catch Harry the old fashioned way. With his hands. He charged at the boy on the broom, aiming to grab him. But even if brooms couldn't outrun a thestral, they could outmanoeuvre them. Harry made a hard 90 degree turn and flew at full throttle. He gained about half a mile on Dumbledore before the Headmaster quickly caught up.

Harry knew that a basic anti apparition ward had a radius of 1500-2000 meters but that the Elder Wand in the hands of a Wizard like Dumbledore could produce a radius of up to 3000. At the rate they were going, this was going to end up being a race to exhaustion. Harry was sure he could win that battle against Dumbledore, but the Ministry and the Order would both know that he was up here and would probably send other wizards to with their own wards to try and capture him.

Harry had to loose Dumbledore before that happened.

Flying like this vaguely reminded Harry of the First Task in the Triwizard Tournament. Under Polyjuice Potion impersonating Mad-Eye Moody, Crouch Junior had told him to play his strengths. The man may have been a psychopathic killer in disguise but his advice worked. Harry had used Quidditch skills to overcome the dragon. Dumbledore was a whole different character and far more skilled than a dragon. Nevertheless, as Harry performed a corkscrew to avoid Dumbledore again, he got an idea that a little Quidditch and a lot of something else might dismount the Headmaster.

Harry dived straight for the ground. The top speed of a Nimbus 2000 was 120 MPH, usually. Harry was performing a near, if not precise vertical dive.

Dumbledore followed as fast as he could but the Nimbus was going at a speed at the edge of the thestral's comfort zone. Harry was giving it his all and the vertical dive was probably making him outrun his old Firebolt. Harry had gone top speed on both brooms and he had to conclude that the speed he was at now, combined with the gravity, was far faster than any he'd gone before.

Glancing back, he realised the thestral was gradually expanding its comfort speed, but it was not expanding it fast enough. Harry was now less than 200 meters from the ground.

"Harry stop, you're going to crash." Came Dumbledore's voice. But Harry would not be dissuaded. Between Hermione and Mrs Weasley he had ignored far more frightful warnings in regards to his Quidditch antics.

From Harry's point of view it had been 13 years since he rode a 2000. But the memory of its capabilities was all there. He had to time this just right.

Harry pulled up at the last possible second, the turn was agonizing on his body and so extreme that his vision turned black. Just as he'd planed.

With his vision gone for a brief seconded Harry non-verbally incanted "_Lumos Maxima!_"

His own vision was unaffected thanks to the high-g turn. Dumbledore and the thestral on the other hand got a blast of pure light.

The Thestral collided with the ground, breaking all but one of its legs and howling in agony. Dumbledore got thrown off but his skill of magic gave him a rough but otherwise relatively lenient landing.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry was flying vertically upwards when his vision returned. It was a heavily unpleasant experience to go through, performing a Wronski Feint that extreme was definitely not recommended and Harry was lucky not to have blacked out. It took him a few seconds to get all his bearing right. Unfortunately that was too long.

Dumbledore fired off a redactor curse which impacted the broom causing it to shatter. Harry was blown off and flung to the ground about 20 meters from.

"_Aresto Momentum!_" Harry incanted landing on his feet. His escape may have been foiled but he took comfort from the fact that he had a softer landing than Dumbledore. The thestral was injured and the broom littered in pieces on the ground.

Harry and Dumbledore had both crash landed in a large green valley next to a lake, there were some sheep grazing on the hills to one side and rippling water of the lake to the other.

"Harry you are clearly not going anywhere, you are out of options." Said Dumbledore "I would recommend you come quietly and…"

"_Stupefy!_" shouted Harry punching his wand through the air at his former mentor.

Dumbledore blocked the spell and sent a body-bind which Harry dodged.

"Harry you have impressive duelling skills, but I just want to talk."

Harry answered by non-verbally sending a Disarming Charm at Dumbledore. The old man deflected it right back at Harry who dodged and fired a Body-Bind. Dumbledore still carried the anti-apparation charm on him, and Harry knew the only way to break it was with the Elder Wand. In order to escape, Harry had to defeat the Professor Dumbledore in a duel. The good news was that with apparition out of the picture it would take the Ministry and the Order a considerable amount of time to get to the area, particularly as the terrain was not very forgiving.

Harry had defeated Voldemort, rounded up Death Eaters after the war, and become Britain's top duelling champion. But he had never fought an opponent like Dumbledore before. Dumbledore's skill was easily at least as good as his own, if not better. What made Dumbledore particularly difficult to beat right now was his possession and mastery of the Elder Wand. Harry knew that wand was more powerful than any other in history and he knew that Dumbledore was almost unbeatable with it. But if Harry had proven anything during his seven year at school, impossible odds did not matter. Robbing Gringott's was supposed to be impossible, surviving the killing curse once never mind twice was supposed to be impossible, summoning a Patronus with less than three years magical training was supposed to be impossible, winning the Triwizard Tournament at 14, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at 15, hunting down the Horcruxes. Harry had done what was impossible and he had done what no others could. He had help to be sure, but if anyone could beat Albus Dumbledore in a duel it was not Tom Riddle, not Draco Malfoy, not Gellert Grindlewald, or anyone else who had won or desired the Elder Wand, the person to beat Dumbledore would be Harry Potter. Maybe.

Harry could not admit to having that faith in himself right now. Between the fighting in Diagon Alley and the aerial acrobatics followed by a crash landing he was not at his best. The only consolation was neither was Dumbledore.

None of the spells were lethal. Neither wanted to harm or kill the other the most dangerous spell either used was Harry's red sparks spell.

"_Flipendo Maxima!_"

He discovered it gave him an edge. Because Dumbledore was on the ground, and not in the air, he could not form a bubble shield because the ground was in the way and had to endure a few strikes of red sparks.

"Stupefy" incanted Dumbledore

"Flipendo!" incanted Harry

Neither wands were brothers so there was no Priori Incantatum. But despite that both Harry and Dumbledore found themselves trying to overpower the other's spell. It was no contest. Dumbledore wielded the Elder Wand, Harry was a skilled and powerful wizard, but even he couldn't overpower the wand. But then again he didn't have to.

Harry learnt long ago, in First Year really, that it takes more than raw power to win. There is a Muggle saying that size of a stick matters a hell of a lot more than whose swinging it. In terms of wands, Harry knew what he had to do. He didn't need to overwhelm Dumbledore's spell, he just had to deflect it.

Harry, using all his focus and all his energy, guided the joint spells to the ground. Dumbledore realised what Harry was doing too late. He tried to veer his spell back towards Harry, but the spells impacted the ground sending a raw magical energy rippling back into the casters bodies. Harry was prepared for it but Dumbledore wasn't, he mistakenly thought that he could gain the upper hand on Harry and flinched as a result of the feedback.

Harry made use of the opening "Expelliamus!"

Dumbledore couldn't react fast enough. The Elder Wand shot out of his hand.

"Accio!" incanted Harry. The Elder Wand flew into his hands and he felt the familiar warmth spread through him.

Harry once more surprised Dumbledore by rapidly performing a series of counter-curses that collapsed the anti-apparation wards. Aurors, both from within and outside the Order, flew in on brooms ready to take Harry into custody only for him to disapparate.

Many years later; those who descended on the scene would reflect on how upset and broken Dumbledore was. That, not only had Harry refused to acknowledge him outside of spell fire, but that he had won and also taken the very wand Dumbledore himself had taken from a Dark Wizard over 45 years ago.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry apparated into the back garden at his Granparents house.

The back door flung open and Sirius went to greet his Godson from the future in his 1991 body "Harry you're back. Success I take it."

Harry for his part did not acknowledge Sirius, he was so mentally and physically exhausted it was a wonder he could stand. "_Oh? I'm starting to wobble?_"

"Harry!" shouted Sirius in surprise as the boy fell.

Sirius' shout in surprise alerted everyone else and they all flocked in.

"Oh my… Harry what happened." Said Hermione

They guided the limp but still slightly conscious Harry to the lounge, pulled off his rucksack – causing him to involuntarily drop his wands – and laid him on a sofa.

"He's burning up." said Remus with his hand on Harry's forehead. "He's also really sweaty."

"He's exhausted." Said Hermione irritably "Harry what did you do, please tell me the Goblins didn't find out."

Harry tried to utter the word no, but even that seemed to require an unusual amount of effort.

"Hey he's got two wands." Said Sirius looking at where Harry had dropped what he was carrying. He picked them up, and Hermione went over to look and gasped when she recognised the Elder Wand.

"Sweet Merlin Harry." Said Hermione "Sweet fucking Merlin what is your problem." She whined and went back over to Harry. She held his face with her hands and forced him to look her in the eyes. "Do the Goblins know? Blink once if they don't?"

Harry blinked only once and held his eyes open afterwards.

"Then why that wand?" Hermione demanded.

"T…" came out from between Harry's lips "Trap…. Di… gon… All…"

"Hermione what is it?" said Remus "What's wrong Ron?"

"Beats me." Said Ron "She must have…" he trailed off looking at the other wand in Sirius' hand "Sweet Merlin's buttocks Harry, you didn't. You won that didn't you?"

Harry nodded slightly and fell asleep from the exhaustion.

"How did he do that." Said Ron "I know he's good but…"

"Would one of you please tell us what's going on my boyfriend looks half dead and I want to know why?" demanded Ginny

"Boyfriend?" said Ron

"Good as, I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration of our relationship." Said Ginny

"Ginny you're only…" said Ron

"Age aside Ron care to share…" said Fred

"…what's so special about the extra wand?" finished George.

"Don't you recognise it?" said Ron "That's the Elder Wand. Harry just beat Dumbledore in a duel."

That declaration provoked gasps from everyone, except Hermione who was stroking Harry's head.

"We send him out on one mission alone and this happens." She said "I don't know what make me angrier, the fact that Harry just went through the duel of his life without us or the fact that he won."

"What do you mean?" said Ginny

"Sorry Ginny, Harry always got into trouble when we were at school. I genuinely don't believe he went looking for it, but it came nonetheless. So Ron and I did the only thing we could when these times happened. We stuck by him. We stuck by him and helped him whenever we could." Said Hermione

"But there were always times we weren't there to help." Said Ron "When he fought against Quirrell, when he fought against the Basilisk, all three tasks in the Triwizard Tournament, the resurrection of Voldemort, detentions with Umbridge, guiding Dumbledore back from the Horcrux Cave and finally…" Ron trailed off.

"The battle?" said Ginny

"Harry learnt on his own that he had to die." Said Hermione "Harry made the decision on his own that he had to die. Harry made the decision on his own that he had to sacrifice himself and let himself be killed by Voldemort. He suffered so much, and he suffered alone despite what we tried to do to help him." Tears were now forming on her face.

Ron went over and took his wife in a hug. "We kept him close after the battle." Said Ron "We didn't let him be on his own until we were sure he could manage. Turns out we had very little to worry about. Harry suffered as much as the rest of us, but he had you back Ginny and Mum, Dad and all our other brothers made sure that we were there for him."

"You were all suffering." Said Remus "Because of what you lost."

"That was only part of it." Said Hermione "Most of the time horrible things happened to Harry at the end of the school year and we couldn't be there for him because he was returned to Privet Drive. When he went back at the end of Fourth Year…"

"We saw." Said Remus "He really had one hell of rough time back then."

"He could never stop." Said Ron "Not until Voldemort was dead. Now that he's alive again, Harry will do anything to take him down, including this."

"Let's get him upstairs." Said Sirius "We can find out from him what happened when he wakes up."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

As it turned out, Harry did not wake up again before they found out. Between eyewitness accounts and reports from the Aurors, they discovered how Harry had run from then fought Dumbledore. The report was extremely accurate although instead of mentioning Harry's invisibility cloak it mentioned a disillusionment charm.

"Only Dumbledore knows about the cloak." Said Hermione. "If all other witnesses saw was spells flying from nowhere they would assume a disillusion charm. Dumbledore might not even know that Harry has retrieved the cloak."

"Wouldn't the Sorting Hat and the Head's portraits have told him?" asked Ron

"Maybe if he asked them specifically." Said Hermione "But maybe not. The portraits never told Snape that Voldemort created Horcruxes and they would have to have known that because Harry and Dumbledore talked about them at length in the office."

"He knows." Croaked a voice. Harry entered the lounge, where everyone was gathered, looking very drowsy but mobile.

"Harry." Said Ginny happily and rushed towards him, hugging him tightly.

"Sorry about that." Said Harry "I really didn't expect to end up in a trap like that."

"Yeah well…" said Ron his temper rising slightly.

"You couldn't have made it any easier for me Ron." Said Harry moving to sit down with Ginny "All you would have done was get trapped alongside me. By the way has anyone destroyed the cup yet, it was in my bag."

"Um… no." said Hermione "We forgot about it, wait you go the cup?"

"Yeah it was only after Gringotts they sprung the trap. I think that someone must have recognised my disguise from when we went to Ollivander's and the Order and possibly the Ministry have been on the lookout for us ever since."

"That would make sense." Agreed Hermione "But why do you think Dumbledore knows the cloak is missing?"

"He used his spell to figure out where I roughly was. The portraits must have told him, or he must have looked through his things and noticed it was missing. I barely got out of there, I had him on one side and the other Order members on the other. By the way I stunned Mr Weasley so sorry for that."

"You stunned Dad?" said Fred

"Don't worry we won't hold it against you." Said George

"We might not but Mum?" said Ginny

"I'm sure you can get Mum to forgive Harry." Said Ron "They're both wrapped round your finger."

Ginny smirked "Ok, I can't very well marry Harry if they don't like him though."

"If it helps by this stage I'll have returned to my time and the other Harry will be left behind, they can't blame him." Said Harry

"Do you want to get that Horcrux now?" said Remus

"Good idea." Said Hermione, she went over to the rucksack Harry had put down earlier. "Who hasn't destroyed one yet?"

"I haven't." said Ginny "But I want the Diary, even if I haven't been possessed by it yet."

"I guess I'll take this one." Said George "Unless one of you three want to?"

"No we each destroyed one in the last timeline." Said Harry "Hermione destroyed this one, I destroyed the Diary and Ron destroyed the Locket."

"Who got the credit for destroying the Diadum?" said Ginny

"Well we admitted that an item was destroyed by Crabbe's Fiendfire, but we all got group acknowledgement for that."

"An Item? Didn't you tell the Ministry what any of the items were?" asked George

"We admitted the Snake was so Neville could get the credit. He's one of the few we told the truth about." Said Ron

"Who did you tell the truth to?" said Fred

"Neville, Luna, Kingsley, Professor McGonagall, Hermione's parents and anyone and everyone who had the Surname Weasley in 1998, including Fleur."

"You told Hermione's parents?" said Ginny

"Yeah I felt really guilty about that." Said Harry

"It was my fault Harry." Said Hermione

"I still think you did the right thing." Said Ron

"What happened?" said Sirius.

They were all distracted by a sudden screech as George destroyed the cup.

"Well I guess that's one down." Said the Weasley twin.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Later that evening they had dinner, as usual cooked by Ron, and once the question about Hermione's parents arose.

"Well." Said Hermione looking down. "You no doubt saw from the Pensieve that I modified their memories and sent them to Australia?"

"You didn't ask their permission?" said Remus

"No I did." Said Hermione "But they said no…"

Sirius and Remus' eyes widened. "Ah!" said Sirius.

"Ron and I didn't know that until we got to Australia and met them." Said Harry "The two of us had only met the Grangers once the summer before Second Year and we barely said hello and Goodbye."

"They were really angry." Said Ron "I didn't help matters there."

"Ron I would have done the same." Said Harry "You were just nearer, and had your wand before me."

"What do you…" began Ginny

"Ronald thought that my father was going to slap me." Said Hermione "He cast a stunner."

"Her parents were absolutely furious and said some nasty things." Said Harry "Things got exacerbated further when Ron and I stood up to them. Hermione was and is like my sister and I told them that, which also didn't help."

"In hindsight, I could have tried something better than finding them and saying, this is my boyfriend and this is a boy whom I've adopted as my brother. I always kept the Wizarding and Muggle aspects of my life separate but by this stage I couldn't keep that up."

"Her parents threw Harry and me out of the house after a while. Hermione left as well but she gave them the number for our hotel and asked them to phone when they had calmed down." Said Ron

"We stayed in there for a week before they called us." Said Hermione "I don't know what I would have done if these two hadn't been around."

"We got invited back to their house and explained everything from the beginning." Said Harry

"I hadn't kept them informed at all about what was going on in the Wizarding World. Well that's not true, I told them Voldemort was back and that he was targeting Muggleborns but that's pretty much all I told them. They were more than a bit shocked to find that I was a war hero."

"We then left them overnight to let them digest that information." Said Ron

"It took them time but they eventually accepted who I had become and they also accepted that I was not a child anymore so they couldn't forbid me from seeing Ron and Harry. I could tell they wanted to. It took them a little longer but they began to accept why I did what I did. To this day I still don't know if I made the right choice, but they did accept that I couldn't do nothing."

"They get on quite well with us now." Said Harry "I think we must have some kind of charm because by the time Ginny and Hermione finished their last year at Hogwarts, there was no obvious hint that they held anything against us."

"Obvious?" said Ginny

"They forgave me for what I did but they never forgot it." Said Hermione "I suppose that at least this time round my other self won't have to go through that."

"We don't have long before we separate from our old selves." Said Harry "There is now only one Horcrux left, then we can take out the wraith."

"The Diary." Said Ron "And it's somewhere in Malfoy Manor."

"The way I see it we have two choices." Said Harry "Break in and steal it or burn the entire house down with Fiendfire."

"Harry." Said Hermione "No Fiendfire, we need to find it and verify its destruction. We leave too much to chance if we burn the place. Besides the Malfoys haven't committed the same crimes they did in our time, we can't just pass that Judgement."

"Well when do we enter?" said Harry "The sooner we do this, the sooner this all ends. But we can't just force our way into Malfoy Manor, we need a plan and we need to figure out what the defences are."

"I'm glad to see that 'we' in there, because after this morning's chaos, we're not letting you out of our sight." Said Hermione

Harry for one did not object. He knew that when he went off and did things on his own he usually scared Ron and Hermione.

* * *

><p>There are only going to be two more chapters but I'm not entirely sure at this stage when Chapter 12 ends and Chapter 13 begins so I may end up posting them both with about a days gap. It may take me time to write the next chapter as I'm going to try to be a bit more creative.<p>

Please Review.


	12. Where things end at the beginning

Sorry this took so long, I've given up trying to make chapters for this have the 8,000 word minimum. I did manage to make it 5,000 words though. Actually that's not something to be proud of.

Anyway for the first time I am posting an update from the Orkney Isles, special moment for me.

Hope you enjoy this regardless of the short length.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Where things end at the beginning<p>

Halloween was just a few days away and the Golden Trio were aiming to have the Horcrux Hunt mark 2 ended before that fateful day arrived. With the timeline messed up there was absolutely no guarantee Voldemort and Quirrell would try and steal the Philosophers Stone like the last time, but the three of them didn't want to risk waiting any longer. Last time Quirrell's attempt was foiled by Snape and Fluffy, but there was no guarantee that would happen again.

"Whatever happened to Fluffy?" said Ron "We never heard anything about him after First Year."

Harry looked at Hermione who shrugged "No Idea, maybe Dumbledore made Hagrid give him up."

"I don't think that is really important right now." Said Hermione "We are about to break into one of the most heavily warded homes in Britain. Need I remind you that no one has ever snuck into Malfoy Manor before."

"Dobby did." Said Harry "He rescued us."

Hermione's eyes widened "He did, the wards can't stop House-Elves…"

"Wait Hermione." Said Harry "Even if we had access to a House-Elf, which we don't, Dobby will probably notice and confront us, and right now he is bound to the Malfoy Family and is likely obliged by his servant magic to protect the home."

"We could use Kreacher." Said Ron

"Not a good idea." Said Harry "Despite what happened with Regulus and the Locket, Kreacher is closer to Narcissa than he is Sirius, he will look for opportunities to circumvent our authority and alert her."

"Well we need to come up with something." Said Hermione in frustration. "The boundaries and the gardens are completely entrenched in all sorts of detection spells and counter-measures. If we could arrive inside the manor and bypass the outside, things would be so much easier."

"What about the Floo?" said Ron "We could try entering from the fireplace."

"No the Malfoys would be smart enough to only allow certain fireplaces to connect to theirs." said Harry "Grimmauld Place might have been an option at one point, but they would have closed it off when Sirius escaped from Azkaban, if not when Wallburga died."

"Floo might still be on the table." Said Hermione "If we can get just one of us into the mansion then that one of us could open the Floo to either here or Grimmauld Place and let the rest of us through."

Harry nodded "That's not a bad thought. Now that I think about it, my cloak should shield me from most of the detection spells. I can perform charms and counter charms on myself that should protect me from the rest."

Hermione looked bothered, "I don't know Harry. That would put you at risk, not to mention we want to do this undetected and we still need a way to get you past the perimeter."

"I've thought about that a little bit." Said Ron "We could dig our way under the hedge near the pond garden, where the detection charms aren't at their strongest. We would have to delicately incant our countercharms but it should still be possible."

Hermione nodded "Good yes…" she then turned to Harry "I don't want you just going in on your own. I want someone on the outside supporting you."

"Sirius." Said Harry "I don't want to risk having Remus too near the Malfoys, we do not need the Ministry arresting him for being too close too 'upstanding purebloods'.

"I suppose you're right." Said Hermione "Today is the 28th, the Hogwarts Board of Governors will be gathering for their seasonal committee meeting tomorrow. Both Narcissa and Lucius will be attending so I think we should go then. Between then and now though, Harry, I want you to practice non-verbally incanting counter charms. We also need to let Sirius know what we expect from him.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"Are they doing alright?" Harry asked Ginny who was watching Ron and Hermione with their baby in the next room.

Ginny looked up and nodded. "Are we like that? In the future I mean?" she indicated Ron and Hermione. The two of them were cradling their baby and talking asking if the other person was their 'mummy' or 'daddy'.

"Yes, I think most parents are like that." Said Harry.

"So we do that… constantly?" Said Ginny.

"Try to engage our child in conversation? Yes we do. Of course James is now two-years-old and nearly three, so he has his own words to say. But when Lily/Albus comes along we'll start all over again. Like that."

Ginny shook her head. "I don't understand."

"You're ten-years-old. You're not expected to understand. Even Bill and Charlie, who've memorably grown up with babies in the family wouldn't have understood at your age. We're not convinced Charlie understands now to be honest."

"It's just. One day I'm going to have a baby, your baby and I know… somewhat… how to have one but…"

"Stop right there Gin." Said Harry, not wanting to have that conversation with this Ginny. "We'll deal with it when it happens, or rather you will I already have. Maybe it would be a good idea for you and your Mum to sit down and have a talk about this when the Horcrux Hunt is over."

"D… did I do that last time?" said Ginny.

"No. At least I don't think so. Believe it or not, this is something you come to terms with in your own time as you grow up. You probably didn't talk to Molly, your Mum, beforehand but you didn't meet me like this or have the foreknowledge that you may one day have children, so you probably didn't have to."

"May?" said Ginny "What do you mean may?"

"The Future's not predetermined. We're changing it now. You might decide you don't love me in this timeline, he might decide it, though I doubt it personally. Even if we do fall in love, we might not have the same children. I actually wonder about Remus. Will he fall in love with Tonks? If he does will he fall in love with her sooner? Will he end up with her because Sirius pushes them together? Will she recoil out of fear for what he knows and what the rest of us know? Will Teddy be born? Will he have any younger siblings, or older ones for that matter?"

"Oh my god Harry." Cried Ginny "What if by changing time we've…"

"Ginny. These are mere speculations. My advice is to ignore everything you know about my timeline. Never forget it, but ignore it. I believe, with all my heart that he will fall in love with you Ginny, provided you are you. I believe that he will do everything he can to find that love between the two of you, because let's face it. He needs it."

"He? Are you talking about yourself?" said Ginny.

"The me that will be left behind when all this is over." Said Harry. "Just remember that you are ten and don't try to grow up too quickly. Have a harmless crush on a boy you befriend, and be honest with yourself. I don't want you to make commitments with someone you're not going to love. Fall in love with me for the right reasons. You did fine in the other timeline despite the Diary, Cho and the war driving us apart. You'll do fine here."

Ginny's eyes teared up and Harry took her in a nice long hug.

"Do you think they know we can hear everything they say?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I think they do now. But leave them be." Said Hermione. "Is that your Daddy Rose? Is that your Daddy?"

"Uh!" said Rose reaching for Ron.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry and Sirius apparated inside a forest that no Muggle had set foot in for centuries.

"For the record, I hate this place." Said Sirius

"For the record, not as much as I do." Said Harry.

The forest in Wiltshire completely surrounded the land owned by the Malfoys, the entire area was coated with a Muggle-repelling charm that got stronger and stronger as one got closer to the centre where the manor was situated.

Harry had first come here at the end of March in 1998, when he, Ron and Hermione were captured by the snatchers. He had been round numerous times since then, sometimes to guard the house-arrested Malfoys, sometimes as part of his routine investigations that were a condition of their house-arrest. He still wasn't used to it.

"The point we want is just over here." Harry indicated "But first we need to wait for the signal."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Meanwhile back at Potter Manor in Cumberland.

"I had no idea they all met at Hogwarts so often." Said Ron "I can't believe how many times the older smug git was…"

"He was only there our first two years remember." Said Hermione "He was sacked after the Chamber incident. After this he will probably get sacked again."

"Let's hope so." Said Ron.

The two of them were looking at the Marauders Map which showed every name entering Dumbledore's office.

"There are a lot of people there." Said Ron "Why are Fudge, Umbridge and Madam Bones there? They have nothing to do with Hogwarts."

"Fudge and Bones are probably concerned about us… Well Bones will be concerned about us and Fudge wants Harry back in the Wizarding World for the sake of his own credibility. Remember the three of us disappeared on Dumbledore's watch. The fact that we had all that spell-fire in the school corridors and the fact that Harry beat Dumbledore in a duel…"

"I suppose you're right." Said Ron "Who are all these people though, they can't all be governors."

"They're not. Marchbanks and Ogden are with the Wiazarding Education Committee."

"Oh yeah they oversaw our O.W.L's." said Ron

"Those two sitting close together are probably Head Boy and Girl." Said Hermione

"They attend the meetings?"

"Just four times a year, I remember doing it the year I went back." Said Hermione "I think he's a journalist for the Wizarding Wireless network and him for the Daily Prophet. A few will be husbands or wives of governors.

"Why do they need to attend?"

"For the most part they don't but when their own children start attending many want to. Narcissa will be no different. She is a horrible woman but she does love her son."

"Who is also horrible." Ron couldn't help but say "Speaking of which."

Ron and Hermione saw Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy's names appear by Dumbledore's fireplace.

"Aright send the signal." Said Hermione

"_Expecto Patronum!_" incanted Ron

The silver coloured Jack-Russell Terrier burst from Ron's wand and shot towards Harry at the Speed of Magic.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"Alright their gone." Said Harry

"I can't believe you're going to rob my cousin!" said Sirius excitedly. "Serves the insufferable whining little girl right."

Harry rolled his eyes and pointed to the ground "_Defodio!_" a large hole appeared. Harry then began summoning dirt from under the perimeter. Meanwhile Sirius used a wand borrowed from Ginny to reinforce the ceiling of the tunnel Harry was creating.

"No matter what happens, only enter if I'm incapacitated." Said Harry warningly.

"Harry you just defeated Dumbledore in a duel, I think you can handle whatever the Malfoy's have to offer." Said Sirius.

Harry nodded and put his invisibility cloak on. He began incanting counter-curses and counter-charms delicately and cautiously from the hole in the ground. Then he gradually moved forwards continuing to incant as he went. Once he reached the garden area of the Malfoy property, he incanted a series magic spells to try and persuade any wards around him that he was not there, then climbed out of the hole in the ground.

Walking through the garden was tense but without incident. There were a number of traps, but Harry's spells managed to counter or neutralise them all. The first actual problem came when he got to the building. The doors were all locked with charms that were far too powerful for a basic unlocking charm. While Harry could cast more complex ones, the chances were that in doing so he would raise some kind of alarm. But the windows were another question.

Hermione had had a theory which Harry was able to confirm with a subtle series of diagnostic charms. Like most manors, the Malfoy's had a basement storeroom for keeping their food. This basement had a small window, Hermione had accurately theorised that the window would have been considered too small for intruders to pass through and thus it was without the additional protections the doors and the rest of the windows had. Harry merely had to use a few manipulation charms to ease the lesser wards off it then perform a basic unlocking charm to open it without being detected.

Harry, taking advantage of his small and skinny figure, dropped through the basement and landed on a large sack full of uncooked pasta.

Now inside the Malfoy's basement he raised his wand and incanted "_Homenum Revelio!_" it told him that no one else was in the property. But Harry knew that someone else was in fact inside the manor.

House-elves were incompatible with most human magic, despite exhaustive attempts no one in 2006 had been able to fix that problem. Harry did however have the advantage that he knew that the Malfoy's only had one House-Elf. He cautiously exited the basement and kept his eyes and ears open for the Dobby. He emerged in the Malfoy's kitchen, looked around and proceeded through the manor as silently as possible.

Soon his ears picked up the sound of little feet moving about on a wooden surface. The noises in question seemed to be coming from the library. Sure enough, Harry peaked through the open door and spied Dobby cleaning the bookshelves with a feather duster. With a great amount of regret Harry fired a silent body-bind at him and the little Elf fell on his back.

Guiltily, Harry shut the door to the library so that Dobby wouldn't be able to tell it was him.

Task done he found the Floo, checked it over for traps and finding none sent a Patronus message to Ron and Hermione. Less than a minute later the two of them popped out of the fireplace.

"Dobby?" said Hermione.

"Body-bound in the Library." Said Harry. "Come on we need to find the hidden stash."

The three of them snuck into the drawing room and identified the carpet where the secret passage was hidden. The series of protective enchantments was intense and it took Ron and Harry nearly an hour to delicately dismantle them.

"What exactly are we going to find in here?" said Ron.

"Don't know." Said Harry "I know the Aurors after the war found a lot of stuff, but the Malfoys had to sell a lot of their artefacts during the war so they had enough money to stay in Voldemorts favour. Personally I'm not sure why Lucius saw a need to hoard vast numbers of the stuff in the first place."

"Yeah. Ok that it done. We can unlock it now."

"Right." Said Harry "_Alohomora!_" with a series of clicks the floor in front of them dropped away revealing a staircase.

"Bloody hell." Said Ron when they to the bottom. "This thing must be miles long… it's like that treasure trove in that Mummy film you took me to."

"I know." Said Harry as he began searching through the basement area. "There was never this much stuff when we raided the place in the present."

"But next year Mr Weasley is going to put forward his Muggle Protection act." Said Hermione. "Remember Malfoy sold a lot of things off then, not to mention what the family sold during the war."

"Why does he want all this stuff though?" said Ron "I mean he can't use it, there's enough here to get him life in Azkaban."

"The higher ups actually got a psychological profile made of Lucius Malfoy. He has this power obsession, half his thrill was having this stuff in the full knowledge that it was illegal. He also longs for the days when Purebloods ruled the land and Dark Magic didn't have the same restraints that it has nowadays." Said Harry.

"We have to stop him." Said Hermione.

"We need to get the Diary." Said Harry. "Our role in this is to kill Voldemort and return to our timeline. We have to have faith in those we leave behind. Sirius will do what he can, I'm sure of it."

"That's true." Said Hermione "Once he's free, he'll have a lot more influence as head of the House of Black."

"And regent of the House of Potter." Said Harry.

"Sirius is your regent?" Asked Ron.

"No but he should be." Said Harry. "The rest of my family is dead and I'm not old enough to assume the titles and responsibilities, right now, I'm technically emancipated. Before I leave though I'll make sure all my guardian rights will go to Sirius. He's got an 11-year-old boy to raise."

"Don't you think that it's going to be a bit much for Sirius?" said Hermione.

"He'll have you two to help keep me happy during my mood swings, not to mention Ginny." Said Harry "Remus will also help him in any way he can. I imagine that Dumbledore and the rest of your family will too once they have the chance."

"That's a given." Said Ron. "I suppose with Voldemort out of the way it will be easier in some ways than what we had to go through."

"But still harder." Said Harry. "You know I'm seriously thinking of just setting this place alight with fiendfyre."

"Well you can't." said Hermione, "Especially not with Dobby in the house upstairs, and anyway we need to verify its destruction."

"Speaking of which, what do we do about Dobby? We can't just leave him to live in this environment." said Ron.

"I'll ask Sirius to take care of it, he'll think of something." Said Harry.

It took them nearly another hour to search through all the junk, they had to be careful as there was more than one dangerous item that could potentially kill them.

"Wait, this is it, isn't it?" said Ron.

Harry and Hermione approached it. "Yeah it is." Said Harry. This was it, the last Horcrux, that they needed to once and for all end Voldemort in this time and spare the lives of all those lost during the Second War. Harry picked it up and put it in his pocket. It was time to leave.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

However things got out of hand rather quickly. The second Harry's foot touched the first step of the staircase back to the Drawing Room, alarms started blaring throughout the manor. The trio on instinct hurried up the stairs only to stop as halfway up a staircase, the ceiling opened and a gooey orange liquid to star pouring down towards them.

Hermione grabbed Harry and Ron by the arms drug them back down to the storeroom at high speed. Once they started moving at a hurried speed she aimed over her arm.

"_Aquamenti Glacium!_" she incanted.

Freezing cold water shot from her wand and froze on contact with the lava-like liquid. It bought them enough time to get to the bottom of the staircase.

"_Protego Totalum!_" Hermione incanted. A heavy shield erected itself over the passageway, halting the liquid.

"What on Earth." Said Harry. "What are the Malfoy's doing with lava stored in there…"

"That's not lava Harry, that's Water of Muspelheim. It's a really horrible and really dangerous liquid made of the Heart of a Dragon, two hundred plus Fire Seeds, Mana and lots and lots of acid. My shield won't hold it for long."

"Let me help then." Said Ron. He pointed his wand and channelled his magic into the shield.

"That will buy us an extra half a minute at best." Said Hermione.

"Not now." Said Harry. "We've got the last Horcrux we can't let it end like this."

"Harry there is no way out of here. The Malfoys must have designed this to keep all intruders out of here." Said Hermione in panic.

"From the moment I met Draco I never agreed with the Malfoys, I don't intend to start now." Said Harry. "Correct me if I'm wrong but the Malfoy's ballroom should be located right there?" he pointed at the ceiling.

"Yes, but Harry…" said Hermione.

"Give me as long as you can." Said Harry. He took out his wand and began to draw a rune made out of blue light emanating from his wand.

"Harry, what are you doing?" shouted Hermione in panicked confusion.

"_Augendae hoc carmine cantatum devolvat mea navitas!_" Harry's rune began to flare. He angled it up so it was directly between him and the ceiling underneath the Ballroom. "_Confringo Maxima!_"

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry grotesquely overestimated the structural integrity of the Malfoy's Property. He drained most of his energy in order to cast that spell. In doing so; the enhanced Explosion Curse tore through the ceiling, created a gaping hole in the Malfoys' Ballroom floor, blasted the roof off the entire eastern side of the manor, then impacted the Ward Shields, which were much weaker on the inside, and shattered them and protective wards all around Malfoy Manor.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"Harry you crazy bugger." Said Ron. As his friend collapsed to his knees.

"Let's just gain some elevation." Said Hermione. She and Ron ran over to their friend and lifted his arms over their shoulders.

"On three." Said Ron "One, two. THREE!"

"THREE!" shouted Hermione in time with her husband.

"_ASCENDIO!_" they incanted together.

Ron, Hermione and Harry shot out of the hole Harry created in the ceiling and landed on the rubble strewn floor of the Ballroom.

Hermione felt her shield charm begin to fail and looked back down into the storeroom and her eyes widened at the site of a red skull floating in a jar of green gas.

"We've got to get out of here now." She shouted.

"Wha?" said Harry groggily.

"This place is going to blow up." She shouted.

Harry's eyes widened open and with a rush of adrenalin forgot his weariness and ran with his friends towards the way out "_Accio_ Dobby!"

Even as the three of them were running for the door, Harry caught the body-bound House-Elf and the three of them ran out of the front door and into the garden. Thankfully, since Harry had stuck the Ward Shield, the protective enchantments in the garden had collapsed and they didn't have to worry about traps.

However the second they stepped out of the Manor, a huge shockwave knocked them off their feat. Turning back, Harry saw the foundations of the house start to collapse in on themselves, smoke was beginning to rise from the centre where the cellar was. He got to his feet and carried Dobby all the way to the far end of the garden then beyond the boundaries. Their followed two more explosions, the house collapsed to ruins and what little that remained was completely ablaze.

"We need to get out of here now." Said Hermione. "Those alarms would have alerted the Malfoys, they'll be here any second."

"Right." Said Harry. "I'm sorry Dobby."

He placed the elf on the ground in front of the entrance to the grounds and then he and then turned to his friends.

"Let's go."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry and his friends apparated away mere seconds before Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy disapparated before their now burnt to the ground home. Not two seconds after that, the Body-Bind that held Dobby broke and, having no house to care for, went straight to his Master and Mistress's sides.

Lucius had pulled his cloak off ready to do battle with whoever dared intruding on his home. But the site of the burning ruins put him into a daze which caused him to instinctively pass on the garment he was holding to the nearest helping hand, which happened to belong to Dobby. The mind of the Head of the House of Malfoy not fully aware of the elf's presence or his panicking excuses. He also failed to comprehend the fact that he had just given him clothes.

"Dobby is Free!" said the House-Elf happily, then he teleported away to start his new life.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Harry and his friends passed through the wards in Cumberland directly in front of the house.

As soon as they got inside, Hermione through her arms around Harry and kissed him on the forehead.

When the others heard the door open they all rushed forward.

"Did you manage it, Harry you look exhausted?" said Lupin.

"He was completely brilliant." Said Hermione "We were trapped by a torrent of Water of Muspelheim, Ron and I were barely managing to hold it back and Harry created a way out for us by blowing a hole in the ceiling."

Remus's eyes widened "Water of Muspelheim? What were they thinking keeping that there?"

"It was evidently a trap designed to keep us from taking the diary." Said Harry "If we make it back to the future, we'll have to make sure those Malfoys don't have any lying about. By the way what is that stuff? Waters of Muspelheim?"

Hermione had everyone sit down in the living room. Harry found himself comfortable sandwiched between Ginny and Sirius. Both were extremely worried for him as he had come off worse for wear during this much shortened Horcrux hunt. When Harry and the others explained what happened, Hermione explained the substance they found.

"Right Waters of Muspelheim." Said Hermione "In Norse Mythology Muspelheim is the Realm of Fire. I don't know much more than that, but I think that's sufficient enough to name this potion. Waters of Muspelheim requires one to take the heart out of a full-grown dragon and, within an hour of its removal, boil it in a cauldron made out of either Gold, Platinum or Titanium, because no other container is strong enough to withstand the corrosive heat. Anyway, you must boil the heart within an hour of its removal along with at least two hundred fire seeds and twenty fragments of Mana in this cauldron filled with an acid with a Ph lower than 3 for an hour to an hour-and-a-half until it turns into a gooey orange substance that is a lot like lava."

"How much like lava is this stuff?" said Harry.

"It's basically the same except the Mana means it has magical properties. Meaning a skilled Potioner can preserve it and it doesn't turn to rock after a time. But it also means that it can be held back by a shield charm temporarily. But it is heavily destructive and very dangerous. It's one of the few substances that can destroy a Horcrux."

"It is?" said Ron. "We should have just left the Diary there then."

"No we shouldn't have." Said Hermione.

"Why not?" asked Sirius.

"Two reasons. It can destroy it, but it's not safe for us to just hang around and verify the Water actually destroying the Diary."

"And Secondly?" asked Ginny.

"Secondly, it may not have happened yet and never will. But you Ginny Weasley were violated by this thing. You have more right than anyone in the fight against Voldemort to destroy it."

Everyone was silenced by Hermione's declaration.

"That's not very logical." Said Ron after a few seconds of silence.

"I for a long time relied only on logic." Said Hermione "It took you and some other factors but mainly you to make me realise that." She reached out and took her husband's hand.

"Awe isn't that cute Fred." Said George.

"Yes, ickle Ronnikins loves his wife." Mocked Fred.

"Yeah that's right." Said Ron with a lack of interest in his brother's existence.

He and Hermione kissed for a few seconds longer before pulling apart.

"By the way?" said Harry "How did you know that place was going to blow up?"

"There was a container with Muggle-killer gas." Said Hermione. "It's essentially a gas that is preserved using the skull of a Muggle and a sealed container. It does what the name suggests, it kills non-magical humans. But if it comes into contact with any kind of fire or very hot substance. Boom."

"That explains a lot." Said Ron. "Shall we destroy the Diary now?"

"Yeah. By the way Ginny, Hermione's right." Said Harry. He pulled the Diary from his robes and placed it on the floor. "If anyone has the right to destroy this thing, it's you."

Ginny looked a little nervous but took strength from her husband/future husband/fiancé/boyfriend/future boyfriend/some guy, and went over to retrieve the sword from the cabinet.

Everyone looked at the Ginny as she walked over to where it was placed.

Ginny had no personal memories of the Chamber of Secrets, she wouldn't it hadn't happened in her timeline. But she saw Harry's memories of his Second and her First Year at Hogwarts. She saw what that thing did to her, saw what it turned her into. If it didn't harm her, it would harm someone else, even without a Basilisk it was dangerous. With as much malice as the ten-year-old could muster, she stabbed the Diary straight through the middle.

By this stage they'd become used to it, but when the gaseous form of Tom Riddle's head emerged from the book and screamed for all to hear, Ginny jumped back in shock, she had never been up this close. After a brief amount of time, the gas dissipated and it was over.

What was the first Horcrux ever made and the first Horcrux destroyed during the last timeline became the last Horcrux to be destroyed during the new timeline. The second hunt for the Horcruxes was now over and only one task remained. The Death of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Suddenly the Mirror began to hover in the air.

"What is it doing?" said Ron in surprise.

"We haven't finished yet, why is it reacting now?" said Harry.

The mirror began rotating and engulfed itself in a bright blue light. The light expanded and deposited a black box with white inscriptions on it upon the coffee table.

The Mirror then ceased its motions and settled back down on the cabinet.

"What is…" began Sirius.

"But that's impossible." Said Hermione.

"What is it?" said Sirius.

"It's… It's a rune trap." Said Hermione.

* * *

><p>Well that's the Penultimate Chapter. That means the next one will be the last. This really strange for me, with the exception of one-shots I've never marked a story down as complete before. This was one of the first stories I ever published, well actually it was fourth but what the heck, I originally published this at the same time as my first one-shot, <em>To Harry Potter<em>, and _My Brother_, all three were early projects designed to move away from Tales of Symphonia. It saddens me slightly to know that this story is almost complete.

I shall leave you with this comment regarding the next and final chapter:

When you're awesome, it's best to have an audience.


	13. We are the Golden Trio

**As part of my birthday celebrations, as a special treat I'm having a multiple update session today. I'm going to publish chapters for five stories including one new story and the last ever chapter of another story. Exciting time, because I finally get to mark a multi-chapter story (ie not a one-shot) down as completed. Five stories, including this one: By the way I've had readers asking more about Tales of Symphonia, if you want to give that franchise a try, you may be interested in my new Harry Potter crossover. Give it a try.**

And so the time has finally come, when I can say that I have finally marked a story down as complete. I've been writing for two years now and it's taken 18 months to write this story to this stage. The chapter updates section on my Profile will now record this as completed. Sigh so sad.

Long live Hedwig.

* * *

><p><em>When you're awesome, it's best to have an audience.<em>

Chapter 13: We are the Golden Trio

"What's a Rune Trap?" said Harry.

"It's a legendary device. It was said to be used in a Medieval conflict in Europe and there are examples dating back to the Ancient Egyptians. I'm sorry Harry but I'm going to have examine this thing. Sorry Ron, but could you feed Rose tonight?"

"Uhh… Sure." Said Ron.

Hermione picked up the box and took it away with her.

"Do any of you know what that thing is?" Ginny asked.

Ron, Sirius, Remus and Harry all shook their heads.

"Why would the Mirror give it to us?" said Harry.

"It obviously thinks we need it for something." Said Ron.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Ron once more made dinner, while Harry the faithful uncle bottle-fed Baby Rose. Hermione eventually came down and dinner was served in the lounge while the Wizarding Wireless News was running in the background.

_Tonight's top story, Malfoy Manor today burnt to the ground following a large explosion. Lucius Malfoy stated that whoever was responsible for this would suffer the full wrath of the Malfoy family._

"_To destroy another person's home, what if my son Draco had been in there? I shall make sure that the culprits behind this are caught and spend a long stretch in Azkaban for what they've done."_

_A Department of Magical Law Enforcement spokeswitch confirmed that a criminal investigation into the fire had been opened and the charred ruins of Malfoy Manor have been cordoned off while Law Officers investigate the cause of the fire. However an anonymous source in the Ministry has indicated that this investigation is being led by an Auror Division Commander suggesting that Dark Magic played a part in this act of Arson._

"I don't know why he's complaining it's his own stupid fault." Said Hermione "Honestly who is stupid enough to keep Water of Muspelheim stored in their house, or for that matter a gas that explodes when anything warmer than tepid comes into contact with it."

"The same sort of person who would keep a Horcrux." Said Harry.

_In other news there have been no sightings of the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter since his dramatic escape from Diagon Alley after a lengthy pursuit by Hogwart's Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The day after tomorrow marks the ten year anniversary since Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Be-Named and became the only person to survive the Killing Curse. The Minster for Magic, Cornelius Fudge stated that senior members of the Ministry, as well as child welfare officials and Molly and Arthur Weasley, the parents of several children who seem to have disappeared with Harry Potter, will be attending a meeting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where they will also join the students in the annual Halloween Feast._

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"That it, that's when we need to go back." Said Harry.

"When Fudge is going to be there?" said Sirius "I don't understand."

"It's not just Fudge who will be there." Said Ron. "Umbridge, Madam Bones, Crouch, Dumbledore, the Order, my Parents, Journalists for both the Wireless news Network and the Daily Prophet."

"It's the perfect opportunity for Voldemort's resurrection." Said Hermione.

"Or for us to publicise his demise." Said Sirius understanding.

"Everyone will know that he's been alive for the last ten years and that he's going to die." Said Remus catching on. "You're going to kill Voldemort in a manner the entire Wizarding World will be able to see."

"That and other things." Said Harry "We're going to need an audience. We're going on Halloween."

"That's the day after tomorrow." Said Sirius. "I guess this is going to be goodbye soon."

"It is." Said Harry "But we don't have time for that, we have a lot of planning to do."

"Actually we don't." said Hermione. "This Rune Trap, it's genuine and it'll work."

"What's a Rune Trap anyway?" asked Ginny.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Rune Trap made things distinctly easier, and severely cut down on the amount of planning that had to be done. Soon this quest would be over.

"Hey Harry." Said Ginny from his bedroom door the night before Halloween.

Harry turned to see her dressed in the Pyjamas she's borrowed from Hermione. Ginny was distinctly smaller than her and almost two years younger, so they didn't quite fit at first, but the wonders of magic meant that Hermione merely had to shrink them down to Ginny's size.

"Hey Ginny." Said Harry.

"I can't sleep." She said "I know you said to ignore everything that happened during our time together, but I don't think I can just do that."

"I'm sorry." Said Harry "It might have been better if we never dragged you into this."

"I'm glad you did." Said Ginny "I know now that I don't have to fantasize about you, I can actually get to know you. But still this has changed me. I've seen myself older, through your eyes, I've even seen my niece. I want to become that Ginny, not just because she's the one you love but because…"

"…because she's grown to become a wonderful young woman." Said Harry.

"Yes… because she is so… wow…"

"She is wonderful, I tell her it all the time and I still don't think I tell her enough." Said Harry.

Ginny blushed and looked to the floor as she giggled "Nice to know I'm going to have such an effect on you. Tomorrow's going to be…"

"Yeah." Said Harry "Tomorrow we end this and show the world that Voldemort is no longer a threat."

"Tomorrow you're going to say goodbye to Remus, Sirius and Fred." Said Ginny "I know you've been thinking about that."

"Yeah I have." Said Harry "But I also said goodbye to them a long time ago. I believe that they'll be just fine in this new world we create for them. The dead never really leave us and I like to think that my Father and my Godfather live on our son, that Remus and Tonks live on in Teddy. I expect to one day have a child who emulates my mother as well. Whether that's Child 2, 3, 4 or 17 I'll find out one day."

Ginny shuddered "No. One Weasley batch is bad enough, no more than three children. Maybe four."

Harry grinned. "I'll tell you, you said that."

"Having babies is hard work Harry, or so I'm told." Said Ginny "And giving birth is excruciatingly painful."

"Ours wasn't." said Harry "Then again we had ours in a Muggle hospital. One injection of pain killers and you just rode the whole thing out."

"Pain killers?" said Ginny.

"Uh huh." Said Harry "Louis was born about two weeks before James was and Fleur screamed and cursed in French for hours on end. You begged me to find a less painful way, Hermione suggested going to a Muggle hospital where they have drugs. It worked pretty well. After you gave birth in one, Angelina did and every Grandchild of Molly and Arthur Weasley since James has been born like that. Neville and Hannah are going to have their first baby in a Muggle hospital too. Little Alice is going to be born about a month after child 2."

"Alice?" said Ginny.

"Oh yeah, they also got a scan telling them what sex the baby was. They've already decided on Alice Augusta Longbottom."

"Didn't we ever do that?" said Ginny.

"You didn't want to spoil the surprise." Said Harry.

Ginny frowned "I'm finding more and more about a world that will now likely mean little if anything in the future."

"Then I'll stop talking about it." Said Harry. "Maybe you should go to bed now."

"C… can I sleep in here?" Ginny asked.

Harry froze at that question.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have… I'll…"

"Ok." Said Harry.

"What?"

"I understand. You can stay with me tonight." Said Harry.

Ginny's face broke into one great big grin. "Thank you Harry." She pulled him into a hug.

As they snuggled together however she had one final thing to say.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow is going to be amazing."

"Yeah." Said Harry.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Lunch the following day was a little glum and Harry knew why. It was because today things were going to end.

Harry had been in battle before. But this was not an operation like any other he'd tried before. At the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, the Battle above Little Whinging and at the final Battle of Hogwarts he had known he was heading into a situation where someone could die but he had never had to prepare for it before.

This was not a situation like any of those though. Harry knew that their plan was good and that the chances of any of them getting hurt in any way were slim at worst. But, while no one was going to die, Harry was going to be saying goodbye to people he cared about. People he loved. Everything was working out for the best, but Harry now angrily thought that the best wasn't good enough.

He wanted everything, he wanted his wife, his children, his godson, his nieces and nephews, Fred, Remus, Sirius, even Hedwig to be together. He wanted his parents back, he wanted everything that had been so wrongly taken from him back. But that wasn't going to happen.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"It's nearly time." Said Hermione. "Stay in the living room, Ron will send the signal, Harry and I will be too busy to do it ourselves."

"Once the signal comes, activate the Portkey." Said Harry. "Do you remember the password?"

"Oracle." Confirmed Remus.

Harry nodded.

"Remember guy's." said Fred "The passage entrance is the broom cupboard between the toilets."

"Also remember that this is our last secret passage and we don't want to lose it like we did the other one you used." Said George.

"Don't worry." Said Harry. "We won't get caught and we'll reinforce the structure and repair any damage. I don't care if the whole of Azkaban comes after me, I am not being held back from Hogsmeade again."

"That's the spirit." Said Fred. "Thanks for everything." He said, Harry and the other two could tell this was difficult for him. "Could you tell George…"

"I'm right here." George tried to joke, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Tell Georgie… that I love him… and… I am so proud of him. Also tell him to treat Angelina right. Also tell Mum, Dad and everyone else that too. Tell them I love them."

Ron nodded, tears leaking from his eyes. He pulled Fred into a hug. Hermione and Harry joined in as well.

Harry then turned to Remus.

"Don't make the same mistakes the other you did. Dora didn't care about you being a werewolf and I doubt she cares now. I may regret saying this but trust Sirius. You suffered too much during these last ten years. The rat will pay for that." Harry glanced at the cabinet where Pettigrew was locked up. "Don't take him out of there until you receive the signal, he doesn't need any indication as to what's about to happen."

"It will be a struggle not to kill him, but I'll do my best." Said Remus.

Harry pulled him into a hug.

"Tell my son I'm sorry. Also tell him that I'll try to be a good father this time round." Said Remus.

"I will." Said Harry.

Then he turned to Sirius.

"I guess I never made a good Godfather in your time huh?"

"I think you were the best." Said Harry "I had a Firebolt to prove it."

Sirius chuckled at that.

"You did far better than many would have in your place. You can't raise me from birth like you should have been able to. But you can take care of me from now on. He needs you Sirius, more than you can possibly imagine."

"I'll take care of you Harry, don't worry. I'll buy you a broom to."

"Just make sure it's not a 2001." Joked Harry.

Sirius chuckled and pulled him into a hug.

Tears were streaming down Harry's face. "You can stay here, or in some other place if you want." Said Harry "From the moment I learnt about you, I always wanted to be your son, never to be with the Dursleys again."

"I love you Harry." Said Sirius. "We'll be a family this time I promise. You, me Remus… and your friends. I promise you."

Ginny thought she said her last goodbye to this Harry last night. She didn't.

"Ginny." Said Harry. "I believe in you and I believe in our love. You will be a little confused at first, but that will be nothing compared to how he'll feel. Be his friend first. I always valued my friends greater than anything else I ever had."

Harry embraced the ten-year-old Ginny tightly and delicately held her head in his hand and kissed her on the cheek. She responded by kissing him lightly on the lips.

"I guess we'd better go." Said Harry. "Thank you all for everything you've done."

Before Harry and the other two could leave though, Hedwig swooped over and landed on her master's shoulder.

"You want to come for this?" Harry asked.

She bobbed her head up and down in a nodding manner.

"What the heck." Said Harry. "This will be the last time I see you as well I guess."

"KEAH!" screeched Hedwig.

Harry smiled.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The trio and Hedwig apparated into the cave Sirius had hidden in during their Fourth Year in the original timeline.

"This is it." Said Harry. "Thanks for having my back again."

"No worries." Said Ron.

"We're a team Harry." Said Hermione "We are the Golden Trio, that's what we're known as in our time."

"Yeah, the only people to ever successfully rob Gringotts." Said Ron smiling.

Hermione glared at him.

"Probably best if we don't mention that in front of anyone." Said Harry.

"Well the point is, that's what we were known as in our time." Said Hermione. "And todayt we're going to show this world what we've done. We're going to show the Wizarding World they no longer have to fear Voldemort."

"And I thought I was the one with all the speeches." Joked Harry. "This makes no sense to you I'm sure girl."

Hedwig merely hooted affectionately at her master.

"She's going to miss you Harry." Said Hermione. "Even when your younger self is around."

"I have missed you Hedwig." Said Harry. "I always thought we'd leave Privet Drive together and you'd be at my new home, wherever that may have been."

"We need to get going." Said Ron apologetically. "The feast starts in less than an hour."

They made their way down the hill. Once they reached Hogsmeade, whilst still out of sight, they all got under the invisibility cloak and made their way towards the Three Brooksticks whilst Hedwig took to the skies.

The pub was crowded but they were able to get in easily through the back door, unfortunately they could no longer trust there hairy dwarf disguise so they had to carefully make their way through the pub under the cloak without attracting attention. There were some close calls but they made it upstairs and were just outside the toilets.

Harry stopped long enough to let Hedwig fly through the window he opened, so she could land back on his shoulder. He didn't know why, but something told him she was going to play a part in this final showdown.

"Here is the brick." said Hermione. She had opened the broom cupboard and found the secret passageway from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. The only one that the teachers and Filch had yet to find. "_Aperio!_" she tapped the loose brick with her wand and the wall at the back of the cupboard slid open.

"Let's go." Said Harry.

The trio plus one owl entered and let the door shut behind them.

Harry took out the Marauders Map.

"It looks like half the Ministry is in the Great Hall." He said.

"All the better for us." Said Hermione. "Come on, Voldemort will doubtlessly want to celebrate his rebirthing by committing a mass murder in Hogwarts."

"I can't find Quirrell." Said Harry. "It looks like things are going the way they did last time."

The troll in the original timeline was kept in the Forbidden Forest which did not show up on the Map. If Quirrell wasn't to be seen then it was likely that he was in the Forest now waiting for the right moment to send the beast inside.

"It looks like everyone's heading from the Common Rooms to the Great Hall now." Said Harry.

The Trio picked up their pace. After a time they got to a wide open area which, according to Remus, Sirius and the Twins, was the halfway point between the Three Broomsticks and the Mirror on the Fourth Floor. The area was in a heavy state of disrepair and Harry was surprised that the cave-in hadn't happened sooner.

The Trio stopped to perform repairing charms on the pillars, the walls and the ceiling. Then for good measure they cast Hardening Charms on them to improve the structural integrity.

"You know I reckon Sirius was right, this would have been a good place to train the DA." Said Ron.

"Yeah." Said Harry. "It would also have been a good place to sneak out from. I wonder how many times the Twins snuck though here to get drinks."

"I wonder how they got them." Said Hermione "I hope they didn't steal them."

"They didn't." said Harry "George told me, they learnt early on how to do glamour charms and talk in deep Irish and American accents, so they looked and sounded like short adult foreigners. They also tended to do their business with new or temporary staff if they could. But I think that Madam Rosmerta at least suspected they were coming down frequently when they shouldn't have."

"Well business is business I suppose." Said Hermione. "Still… someone probably should have said something."

"Someone probably did." Said Ron "It's Fred and George after all, they've always known what they want to do, even Mum's failed to stop them on occasion."

"Guy's I think this is the back of the Mirror." Said Harry. They'd reached a dead end and there was a flat stone wall in front of them. "It's clear let's go in."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Golden Trio emerged with Hedwig in the castle.

"It looks like everyone except Quirrell is in the Great Hall." Said Harry.

"Keep an eye out, he might not be in the forest. He might not bother trying the distraction, with things so busy down there he might just try heading for the Third Floor." Said Hermione.

"Maybe but I… See their, at the boundary near Hagrid's." said Harry.

The three of them saw Quirrell's form gradually escorting the troll.

"Last time he just forced it onto the First Floor." Said Hermione.

"He won't want to risk getting caught." Said Harry. "He'll need to cross the Viaduct, but he'll need to take it through the Viaduct Courtyard and into the Quad before it enters the castle. If he goes through the Entrance Hall, people in the Great Hall will notice."

"That's perfect." Said Hermione. "We can wait till he leaves, quickly kill the troll and then use Giffard Abbot's Portrait to get to the Transfiguration Courtyard and down to the Great Hall before he arrives."

"It'll still be tight, even if luck's on our side we'll be a minute ahead of him at most. Don't forget we need to kill the troll after he's out of earshot." Said Ron. "We also need to set the Rune Trap off in the Great Hall at the right time, need I remind you people here have plenty of reasons to stun us on sight."

Before Harry could respond, Hedwig screeched eagerly at Ron.

"What?" said Ron.

Harry suddenly got a thought. "Hermione. Does the trap need to be set off by anything other than a hand?"

"What? No. You just need to hold this switch in place for at least a minute and then release it in the right space." Said Hermione taking out the trap and holding it in her hand.

Harry turned to his snowy feathered friend. "I'm counting on you girl." He took the tiny box out of Hermione's hand and held it up to his owl.

"Harry what are you…" began Hermione. But to her shock, Hedwig took the little box in one of her talons and pressed her middle claw into the switch and took off out a nearby window.

"Harry?" said Hermione.

"I trust Hedwig with my life. She won't let us down, she never has before." Harry reasoned.

Hermione sighed and smiled. "We're going to win this no contest aren't we?"

"It looks like it." Said Harry "Fate does seem on our side."

"Uh hate to interrupt the 'we're great and awesome moment', but Quirrell's got the thing halfway across the Viaduct now."

"Right." Said Harry. "Let's wait in the next corridor, there should be an empty classroom or something we can hide in."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

"I can't believe no one can see that thing." Said Ron.

They had found a classroom, with a window overlooking the viaduct and they saw Quirrell escorting the troll along.

"Everyone's in the Great Hall." Said Hermione.

"What about the ghosts and the house-elves?" said Ron "And the portraits for that matter?"

"The ghosts celebrate Nearly-Headless Nick's Death Day on Halloween." Said Harry "We were there once remember?"

"Let's hope we never have to go back." Said Ron.

"If our other selves remember enough then they'll make sure not to." Said Harry. "The House-Elves will be busy supplying both the feast and the party and the portraits mostly operate a 'you have to ask first' policy. Not very helpful you have to admit."

"Be quiet." Said Hermione.

The trio silently waited for Quirrell to pass the classroom. They knew he and the troll were there the second they got a whiff of the very familiar and horrible stench.

They heard the huge footsteps slowly walk passed and then get further away. Harry peaked out of the classroom door and saw Quirrell and his green and scaly companion. The three of them then cautiously and quietly followed behind. By sheer lucky coincidence, Quirrell stopped at a 'T' section of corridor where Giffard Abbot's portrait was located.

"Release it here." Hissed a familiar voice. A voice that did not belong to Quirrell. "Now go and create your scene."

"Yes Master." Said Quirrell. He fired some blue lightening from his wand at the Troll, encouraging it down one of the corridors before Quirrell himself ran in the direction of the Great Hall.

Harry whipped the map out. "On my go." He whispered. "Alright he's far away enough. Three, two, one, Go!"

They ran towards the 'T' section and While Ron and Hermione cast silencing charms on the corridor Quirrell left through Harry targeted the Troll.

"Hey!" he shouted. The troll turned its head and then growled. But before it could do anything else, Harry incanted a deadly spell.

"_Confringo!_" The Explosion Curse hit the troll on the head and blew it clean off. The rest of the troll stood standing for a few seconds before it keeled over.

"That was disgusting." Said Ron. "Still better at least it won't hurt anyone. We'd better hurry."

"Yeah." Said Harry. They approached the portrait and Harry said "Dragon's egg!"

"Pass friend to Hufflepuff." Said the Portrait before swinging open.

The trio followed a short passage to the Transfiguration Courtyard and from there went along a corridor and down the Entrance Hall Staircase.

They waited just outside the Great Hall with the Invisibility Cloak hiding them.

"I hope Hedwig does her part." Said Hermione.

"She will." Said Harry. "Let's face it, she can get it to the centre of the hall far easier than we can."

"He's nearly here." Said Ron looking at the map.

"Right. Get ready, this is the moment." Said Harry.

Quirrell proceeded down the stairs.

"Remember, look panicked and emphasise the troll and that it's in the dungeon. They need to believe you and that you are terrified to death of the creature's presence." Hissed the voice.

"Yes master." Said Quirrell. He took a deep breath and ran for the Great Hall door, completely unaware that the Golden Trio were nearby and ready to take him down.

As he burst the doors open, Harry already had his wand trained on him. Silently he incanted:

"_Locomotor Mortis!_"

"Tro…AHH!" shouted Quirrell as everyone in the Great Hall turned to see the Defence Professor fallen on the floor. Suddenly they were all distracted by a screech from and owl.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

When Hedwig took the Rune Trap, she flew up to the owl hole above the Great Hall and waited for her Master to make his move. When she saw the man barge through the door she leapt from the hole and flew down the centre of the Hall.

"Hey in't that Harry's owl?" said Hagrid recognising Hedwig, from when he'd bought her for Harry's birthday.

Hedwig released the Rune Trap and it landed on the floor directly in the middle of the Hall. Before anyone could react the box glowed red and wave composed of magic spread out from it and extended beyond the boundaries of the hall.

Just as Harry, Ron and Hermione exited from under the cloak.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

There followed a round of shocked gasps as the Trio suddenly appeared with wands in their hands.

"Ron!" shouted Mrs Weasley. She attempted to get up.

When he saw Harry Potter, Fudge reacted on instinct. "Aurors… stun them, they must not get away."

Mr Weasley, well aware of how dangerous this emerging situation was becoming, held Molly down firmly and urged her to keep back.

The four Auror guards assigned to protect the Ministry representatives targeted their wands at the three of them and incanted "_STUPEFY!_" but it was no good. The purpose of a Rune Trap was to immunise any wand within a given area of it's activation and prevent it from being able to cast any spell. Except that is wands selected beforehand to be exempt from the trap.

While Ron conjured chairs and enchanted them to forcibly seat the four Aurors, Harry and Hermione set to work on Quirrell.

Harry cast a severing charm on the palm of his hand and then used his wand to extract blood from it, allowing Hermione the use of it.

"_Protego sanguineus!_" she incanted at Quirrell. A shield began to form around him, but before it completely formed, Harry's blood was absorbed into the texture of the shield so that when she had finished the shield was a transparent red colour.

Quirrell looked up and saw Harry and the other two missing students. He lunged for them in rage but when his palms contacted the shield; they burnt, blistered and dissolved before everyone's very eyes. Several students sitting near the scene screamed, but Quirrell's agonising sounds outdid them all.

Meanwhile several other people, teachers, Ministry officials and one or two prefects tried incanting stunners only to find that their wands were not working.

"It's secure." Said Hermione. "He's not getting out."

Harry nodded. "Send the message." He said to Ron, who nodded.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Ron incanted. The silver-coloured Jack Russell Terrier shot out of his wand and left the school at Great Speed.

**ORACLE2PHONEIX**

Those who had been left behind at Potter Manor in Cumberland were sitting in the Lounge agonising that they didn't know how their time traveling friends were doing.

Then Ron's Patronus shot into the room.

"Safe and in Great Hall. Come to Party.

"Well this is it." Said Remus. Everyone grab a hold, he held up the portkey, a folded up umbrella with his right hand and he held Pettigrew's in the other.

Ginny in the meantime was holding Baby Rose cuddled up to her with a single arm, her left. She was beginning to struggle because she didn't like the position. But Ginny spoke comforting words to her that seemed to hold back any protests. She took a hold with her right and her brothers and Sirius took a hold as well.

"Back to Hogwarts." Said Sirius.

Remus said the password. "Oracle."

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

Everyone who understood what it was, was absolutely astounded that an 11-year-old boy who'd yet to even attend Hogwarts could cast a Patronus Charm.

To Albus Dumbledore, and a few the other more inquisitive and well informed minds, the realisation that Ron's Patronus was the same as one of those used to get Sirius Black out of Azkaban was barely beginning to emerge when the Cumberland party materialized in the Great Hall.

"AH! Sirius Black!" screamed Umbridge. This of course set everyone off and a number of braver people once more attempted to use their wands.

"Ginny, Fred, George!" Shouted Mrs Weasley at the sight of the rest of her missing children.

"SILENCE!" shouted Harry, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Your wands will not work so long as the Rune Trap is active. For the time being you are all to remain seated and to keep quiet, anyone who thinks they should do otherwise will be stunned."

No one, not even Umbridge was willing to challenge Harry.

Dumbledore might have tried something a week ago, but Harry defeating him in a duel had left him somewhat subdued. Ollivander had kindly come to the school to outfit him with a new wand, sparing him the humiliation of travelling through Diagon Alley where everyone could see him to get a new one.

"Where's my baby?" said Hermione affectionately as she approached Ginny and scooped her daughter up.

Rose was very happy to see her Mummy after such a horrible ride. Portkeys were nasty.

"Have you got the Mirror?" Harry asked Remus.

"Here." Remus handed it to him.

All eyes were on Harry and, initially at least, people began to wonder if they were being held hostage by a lunatic.

"We are at the end. Please. Release us." Said Harry

Nothing happened.

"Harry." Said Ginny cautiously.

But Harry ignored her "We are at the end now. You know as well as I do that we want this completed. But there is no need for him to suffer. Let me do it without him. Release us and let him live his life without this on his conscious."

Whatever Harry was saying seemed to take effect. The Mirror of Emit glowed bright blue, hovered out of his hands and into the air, then began rotating. The light engulfing the mirror left and shot out in three bolts which entered Harry, Ron and Hermione through their abdomens.

The Mirror, having granted Harry's request, stopped rotating and merely hovered above the ground.

"What happened did it not work?" asked Ginny.

"I don't know maybe it's…. Ah!" screamed Harry suddenly bending over.

"Harry?" said Ron "AH! Bugger it."

"Ronald Weasley, watch your… Ah… Shit that's sore." Said Hemione. "Ginny."

Ginny who had been trying to see what was wrong with Harry turned and looked at Hermione.

"Ginny, hold my baby please. Mummy's about to change a dress size."

Ginny ran over and took her niece in her arms.

The people in the Great Hall were glancing nervously at the three missing First Years as they seemed to be in a great amount of pain. The presence of Sirius and Remus armed with wands however kept them from trying anything stupid. Many people yelped in shock when Harry, followed by Ron then Hermione were engulfed in white light.

Harry felt as if his entire skeleton was trying to extract itself from his body. It was extraordinarily painful. At least it was until he felt himself detach from his body. Suddenly he no longer felt any pain.

From what everyone else could see, it looked like the trio were expanding upwards. The light that engulfed them had stretched outwards then grown several feat. Ginny began to realise that Harry and the others were taking the forms of adults. Of their 2006 selves.

As Harry felt the process end he saw himself as an 11-year-old floating in the air. As the light of magic began to fade he took his younger self in his arms.

The entire hall stood… well sat stunned as the missing trio of First Years had suddenly created larger copies of themselves. Those larger selves now had their smaller selves held in their arms.

"Are we back?" said Harry.

"I… think so. Let's see." Said Hermione, handing her younger self to Remus who stumbled and nearly dropped her in surprise. "I have the extra weight from having Rose and… oh I can't believe it. I'm lactating." She squealed excitedly.

"That's wonderful." Said Ron happily. A few of the braver students snorted at that declaration, but Hermione didn't care. It really hurt that she had to feed her baby using a bottle and powdered milk.

"What in devils name is going on here?" demanded Fudge.

Harry turned to look at him. "I am Harry Potter, in 2006 I am Deputy Head of the Auror Office and head of the Second Auror Division. These two were my best friends at Hogwarts and still remain as such now: Ronald Weasley, Senior Auror and head of the Fourth Division and his Wife Hermione Weasley Senior Undersecretary to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

People began to gasp at the declaration Harry was making, even to the most ignorant in the room it was clear what he was insinuating.

"And this is his niece." Said Hermione, taking her daughter back from Ginny. Meanwhile Harry continued.

"From the age of eleven I, with my dear friends by my side, have been placed in a position where we were witnessed and at many time involved in events that led to the Second Wizarding War against the Dark Lord Tom Riddle and his ultimate defeat. After we three defeated him, we, along with others, spught to and rather successfully built a new regime to replace the corrupt and inefficient Ministry that you all currently suffer."

"Now see here." Said Fudge getting to his feet, Harry had hit a sore spot.

"I never said you could stand up Fudge." Said Harry dangerously. Something in his voice sparked fear in many in the room.

"Perhaps an example." Said Ron. "Starting with the case of Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black is a dangerous murderer." Said Umbridge. "We knew this ten years which is why we locked him up…"

"Without trial." Said Hermione "Even though you are the foulest woman I have ever met, you were given a trial before being sent to Azkaban."

"Lies!" shouted Umbridge in protest.

"That is a matter for the courts to determine." Said Harry. "We have here proof that my Godfather never committed the crimes he was extra judicially imprisoned for." He handed his unconscious younger self over to Sirius used his wand to relocate the cage that was in Remus's hand so that it hovered in the air where everyone could see him.

"That's Scabbers" said Mr Wealsey.

"No it's not." Said Harry "I'm sorry but for you in particular this is going to be a bit of a shock."

One swish of his wand vanished the cage, leaving the rat hovering in the air. The second swish turned Pettigrew back into his human form.

"But… that's Peter Pettigrew. Black… Sirius…" stuttered McGonagall. "Harry what happened?"

Many who'd condemned their friend Sirius Black as a traitor suddenly felt overcome with guilt.

"Please… Harry… Please… he begged. It wasn't me it was Sirius, it was…"

Harry flicked a silencing charm on Pettigrew so no one had to listen to his whining.

"I am not interested in your pathetic whining Pettigrew. You betrayed my parents to Voldemort, you framed Sirius for that crime and killed twelve people in order to achieve it."

Harry conjured ropes from his wand and bound the still begging traitor.

"I have heard your excuses before." Said Harry taking out a phial of memories. He tapped it a few times with his wand. "See for yourself."

A cloud of mist rose from the phial and the whole hall bore witness to several seconds Harry's memory of Pettigrew begging for his life in the shrieking shack.

When the memories had finished, the Mirror suddenly started glowing and rose back up into the air.

"What's going on, why's it doing that?" demanded Fudge.

Harry and the other's who'd dropped in on the Great Hall turned to see the Mirror deposit a stone which proceeded to hover over to Harry and Pettirgrew.

"I think we're about to find out why the Mirror kept the Resurrection Stone." Said Harry. He turned to look at Dumbledore who was in the process of getting out of his chair. "Albus. Please don't. Nothing can bring her back."

Dumbledore sat back down in shock. "You… know about that?"

"Yes. I'm sorry."

The Resurrection Stone turned over three times and the bodies of a man and a woman formed.

"Mum? Dad?" said Harry in shock. He moved over to them. A small part of his mind knew what would happen when he tried to touch them, his hand should pass through. Harry still felt his heart break as he realised, once more, that he could not touch his parents.

"It is good to see you son." Said James. "Both of you." He looked to Sirius and the younger Harry in his arms.

He then turned to Pettigrew.

"You are wrong Peter." Said James "For merely betraying me, I might not want you dead. But for my wife? My Son? Not to mention what you did to Sirius and Remus. I would very much like to kill you with my own bare hands."

Said hands passed through Pettigrew who screamed behind the Silencing Charm.

"Hey Amelia." Said Lily. "You remember me? I was a few years below you at Hogwarts, you used to help me with my History of Magic homework."

"I… I remember." Said Madam Bones.

"Sirius really is innocent. Please. Make sure that things get put right?" Said Lily.

"I will do all I can to see everyone gets there justice." Said Madam Bones.

"Thank you." Said Harry. "I suppose we'd best hand Pettigrew over to you when this is all over. Oh yeah I almost forgot."

Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a roll of parchment and handed it to her.

"This will help with the Trinity Investigation." Said Harry. "There are a few other things in there that will help you find all the evidence you need to overhaul the Ministry. The last time it took a war and for Riddle's forces to take control of the Ministry for a year before things were rectified. This should help you sort out more than a couple of problems."

Madam Bones was speechless. The Trinity Investigation was a top secret investigation into the affairs of the Ministry of Magic. It was looking for evidence of corruption but thus far it was unsuccessful. Madam Bones didn't know that in the other timeline, she had been forced to close the investigation in the New Year after Fudge and Malfoy became aware of it and the whole case became compromised.

While all this was happening the younger Harry began to stir.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The last thing Harry remembered was crossing off the last day on his calendar before the train left for Hogwarts. Or was it?

No it wasn't. He woke up suddenly but he could see nothing. He was not blind there was just nothing to see. Just an endless white plain. Yet he could feel his body doing things that were outside his control. It was really scary because Harry didn't know why, he felt himself eat, sleep, walk, travel erratically and scarily and he felt his body being affected my magic.

The scariest moment came when he felt an almighty pain enter his scar and pulsate right through his body. Then he felt his body completely stiff, stale and inanimate for a seemingly endless amount of time.

Then the regular movements started up again. The walking, the eating, he even felt himself go to the bathroom in his own clothes and magic being cast to compensate for that. He, like his older self, felt absolutely repulsed by that. Then one day he felt absolute exhaustion as if he'd just run the length, the breadth and the circumference of London. That wasn't so long ago on the grand scale of things. Now vague memories were emerging to match those feelings, alongside sixteen years of memories from another lifetime.

Now though. Sight was beginning to come back. Harry found himself in the arms of a young man with dark black hair, inside a hall he had never set foot in before, yet had memories of from other times.

"Wha… What's happening?" he said. Surprised at having regained the use of his mouth.

**ORACLE2PHOENIX**

The Great Hall was so quiet that even those furthest away could hear the younger Harry's voice.

Older Harry turned towards his junior self. "Hey there." he said. In a way it was like confronting his son for the first time. Junior in his current state could not stand or walk yet, the trauma of separating Senior and Junior forms was exhausting and the younger versions of Harry, Ron and Hermione had taken the brunt of the transformation pains.

"You're… me?" said Junior.

"I am." Said Senior Harry.

"Why have you separated now?" said Junior. "I'm still having trouble remembering everything but… our task was to end things here wasn't it?"

"You don't remember the coma do you?" said Harry.

"Bits of it, all I remember was that we had something important to discuss… with your, my… our son and godson." Said Junior.

"We discussed you." Said Harry senior. "This is where the task shall end once and for all. But I am taking you out of the equation."

"What?" said Junior. "Why?"

"In 1998 I killed Voldemort. Considering everything he's done, both to us and to others, and what he would have continued to do after May 2 I will never regret what I did. But killing someone, no matter how just the cause affects people. Ginny puts up with me and my moods a lot more than I deserve."

"No she doesn't." said Hermione. "You are never too much for Ginny."

"In any case I had to kill Voldemort in 1998 and I will have to kill him now. But there is no reason for you to have to live through that. I can't stop you being the Boy-Who-Lived but I can stop you becoming the Chosen One." Said Harry senior.

"Are you saying Voldemort is alive?" said Madam Bones.

"That is ridiculous." Shouted Umbridge.

"Delores, please calm down." Said Fudge. "I may not want to believe this, but these people are clearly time travellers."

"Nonsense Minister it's all a trick." Said Delores. "There is a Werewolf amongst them."

"See what I mean." Said Harry senior not willing to resist the temptation. "In our time a dangerous creature like Delores Umbridge would be locked away in either Azkaban or secure mental asylum. Yet this corrupt administration would allow her a position of power. Though now that I think about it, we did lock her up, I remember testifying at her trial."

Umbridge face turned flaming red with fury; she shot out of her chair, wand in hand, and incanted "_Crucio!_"

Harry was ready though and conjured an iron cannonball out of thin air in front of him. Of course everyone, him included, forgot the Rune Trap was still inhibiting spells. So Umbridge's unforgivable curse never materialized.

Madam Bones however saw fit to leap to her feet and hold the woman down, of course Umbridge tried putting up a fight.

"Auror Potter, since you've denied everyone else the ability to cast magic, a little help would be greatly appreciated." She said.

Harry flicked his wand and ropes flung out and secured Umbridge in a rather undignified manner.

"A simple Body-Bind would have done." Said Madam Bones.

"No it wouldn't." said Ron. "The last time Harry left someone in a Body-Bind before leaving the office we had to call in a professional Curse-Breaker to get it undone. Bugger tries too hard."

"Ronald. Do not swear in front of Director Bones." Scold Hermione. "I apologise for my husband's behaviour."

"That's quite alright, I was once a Law Officer. But Voldemort…"

"Oh that's right, I almost forgot why I was here." Said Harry. With one more flick of his wand, Quirrell's Turban flew off the back of his Head and out of the shield."

Almost every student in the hall screamed at the sight of Voldemort's face sticking out the back of Quirrell's head.

"POTTER!" it screamed over the noise "You shall die a painful death for this sha…"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Harry. By this stage the younger versions of Ron and Hemrione had awoken and what little information they had managed to gather from the memory transfer told them enough to know that that was Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"You dare speak to me like that?" sneered Voldemort.

"You are trapped in a shield composed of my son's blood." Said Lily "Composed of my blood. By killing me that blood is now harmful to you."

"What's the matter Thomas?" said James with fake light-heartedness "Scared of ghosts?"

Voldemort did indeed look frightened, Harry was reminded of what Dumbledore had said in Limbo "_…as for the stone, whom would he want to bring back from the dead? He fears the dead. He does not love._"

"This is where your life ends Tom." Said Harry drawing the attention from every person in the Great Hall. "In the eyes of this Death Eater" He indicated Pettigrew "and to be witnessed by the hundreds in this hall, you shall die by my hand."

"You cannot kill me Potter. I do not believe your story for one minute. You could not stop me in the future so by some misguided belief in yourself you came back in time thinking you could stop me. But I shall regain my body and the Wizarding World shall bend to my will."

Harry for his part merely continued. "This is your last chance. If you do not show remorse then you will suffer in the afterlife. I've seen you throw away this chance before but…"

"Ha ha ha. I am not going to afterlife. I have conquered death, I am immortal. I am bound to this Earth for all eternity." Preached Voldemort.

"Diary." Said Harry very firmly and very aggressively.

Suddenly Voldemort looked far more scared than even Lily and James' spectral forms made him.

"The Diary that you create at the age of sixteen by murdering the girl, an act which you framed Hagrid for; the Ring you stole from your uncle whom you framed alongside an innocent muggle for murder of your father and your paternal grandparents; the locket and the cup that you murdered Hephzibah Smith for and framed her House-Elf for poisoning her and the Diadem you got from the Albanian Woods have all been destroyed. As has the fragment you inadvertently placed in me ten years ago."

Voldemort's began to panic. "No this can't be happening, I cannot be brought down by you."

"That which you had anchored yourself to, have all been destroyed and what you carry with you is all that remains of yours soul." Said Harry. "By the power vested in me by the Auror Office, I, Harry James Potter, I hereby condemn you to death for waging war against both the magical and non-magical realms and the murder of untold numbers of innocent people."

"I, Ronald Bilius Weasley, by the power vested in me by the Auror Office, herby concur with Auror Potter and grant the sentence my blessing."

"I Hermione Jean Weasley, by the power vested in me by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, herby concur with Auror Potter and grant the sentence my blessing."

"You will not kill me." Shouted Voldemort.

"I am not sorry you have to die." Said Harry as he raised his wand to the shield. "But I take no pleasure in carrying out this task, and only do it, so no one else has to."

"You shall die by my hand Potter." Shouted Voldemort. He had gone mad with desperation.

Harry took a deep breath. This was it.

"_Reducio!_"

The shield bubble that Voldemort was imprisoned in shrank. First it was slow but then it began to speed up.

"No. No. No. I will not die. I am immortal. I have created five Horcruxes I will not die. I have conquered death. AHH!"

Voldemort could no longer avoid the shield. It compressed him and Quirrell, burning their shared flesh and reducing the vessel to ashes. The shield got smaller and smaller. Voldemort died and his ashes continued to burn in the shield as it shrank to nothingness and soon all evidence of the shield, Quirrell and Tom Marvolo Riddle was gone.

The was silent, the silence echoed around the Great Hall. Only the sounds of wind outside and the odd heavy breathing could be heard. Then.

"You who has vanquished the Dark Lord." Came and ethereal female voice, causing everyone except the two Harry's to jump in shock. "Your task has now been completed."

Harry turned to the Mirror. "How long do we have?"

"You do not have to leave immediately, but you must leave soon. I realise that this is not going to be easy for you, but it is necessary that you leave this Realm and return to your own. My task in this time is done, I will reappear again, when there is a justification to change time and there are those worthy to change it."

Harry nodded. He turned to his parents. "I guess this is it." He said. "You know considering you died when I was a baby, I have seen you lot, you know considering…" Said Harry, his mind going to the Graveyard at the end of Fourth Year and the Forbidden Forest during the lull in the Battle.

Lily and James smiled.

"You don't need us to tell you how proud we are." Said Lily "But I need to say it anyway. I am so proud of you, both of you." She looked to her younger version of Harry.

"I am honoured that you named you child after me, but why Sirius?" said James.

"Oi?" said Sirius.

"Just kidding." Smiled James.

Sirius smiled back.

"It's all on you now Sirius." Said Lily. "It may seem strange saying it now, but please take good care of my son."

"I promise I will." Said Sirius. "I'm a bit late but…"

"That was not your fault Padfoot." Said James.

"You're going to take care of me?" said the Younger Harry.

"I'm sure Remus will help as well." Said Lily "After all I want at least one sensible adult around."

While the Potters were talking with Sirius, Mr and Mrs Weasley ran over to their no longer missing children.

"And just where on Earth have you all been?" demanded Mrs Weasley.

"We can't tell you." Said Ginny.

"I beg your pardon young lady?" said Mrs Weasley.

"Harry and the others put the place under Fidelius Charm. So all we can say is, we've been at the Headquarters of the Golden Trio." Said Ginny.

"The what?" said Mr Weasley

"That would be us." Said the older Ron.

Molly and Arthur Weasley now had the distinct shock of having to look up at an older version of their youngest son carrying the present day version.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione." Said Ron. "The Golden Trio."

"And just who are you?" said Mrs Weasley glaring down at Hermione.

"That is the mother of just one of your Granddaughters." Said Ron. Suddenly both Mr and Mrs Weasley were speechless.

"Percy." Ron shouted "Get your butt over here."

Percy had been glum ever since his brothers and sister vanished. The fact that he was the only Weasley at Hogwarts was a very visible reminder of that.

He quietly walked over. "Um Hi." He said.

"Don't worry you're long forgiven." Said Ron.

"For what?"

"We'll tell you later." Said George.

"Actually we'll show you, providing younger Harry doesn't mind." Said Fred.

"My Granddaughter?" said Mrs Weasley.

Hermione smiled. "Do you want to hold her?"

Mrs Weasley nodded and carefully held out her hands.

"Ah!" grunted Rose. She reached up with her tiny pudgy hands and touched her Granny's check.

"Rose Ginerva Weasley." Said Hermione.

"And I'm her godmother." Said Ginny.

"Are you now?" said Mr Weasley.

"It's an arrangement we had ages ago." Said Ron. "Hermione and I would be Godparents to Harry and Ginny's first child and Harry and Ginny would be Godparents to ours."

"HARRY AND GINNY?" shouted Mrs Weasley.

"WAAAA!" screamed Rose.

"Sh sh sh." Said Mrs Weasley. "It's alright." Rose calmed down and smiled again under her Grandmother's influence. Mrs Wealsey then handed her over to Mr Weasley.

"Harry and Ginny?" said Mrs Weasley. "It wasn't just a crush."

"It was to begin with." Said Harry. Coming over to join the Weasleys. "Ginny eventually grew out of it though and it allowed me to see her for what she truly was: A beautiful, smart and wonderful young woman. We have a son in the future and a second child on the way."

"How many Grandchildren do we have?" Said Mrs Weasley.

Hermione answered this question. "Ginny and Harry are working on your ninth. George and his wife are working on your tenth. Both Ron and I and Harry and Ginny are planning for at least one more though."

"Twelve Grandchildren?" said Molly.

Hermione nodded.

"Why did you come back?" Asked Mr Weasley.

"It wasn't by choice." Said Harry. "We found one half of the mirror after seeking out and arresting a wanted Death Eater, the other half of course came from Mundungus Fletcher."

Harry heard someone, he assumed Madam Bones, snort at that. Mundungus Fletcher was a common pain in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was rare for any Law Officer, Hit Wizard or Auror not to meet him at least once in the line of duty before retirement.

"I accidentally put the two pieces together while Hermione was taking Rose to visit the Ministry." Said Ron. "The four of us were alone in Harry's office at the time, next thing we knew, it was the day before we were all supposed to go to Hogwarts."

"I thought you seemed a bit off that morning." Said Mr Weasley.

"Yeah sorry about that." Said Ron. "We were still trying to make sense of everything. We snuck on ahead here and researched what we could on the Mirror of Emit."

"Then we remembered that Voldemort was here teaching so we had to get out." Said Harry. "Oh, by the way, who's got the stone?"

"I have." Said Ron. He reached into his pocket and extracted the Philosopher's Stone rapped in a tissue.

Harry took it. "Professor catch!" he tossed it over to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore caught the item with the aid of his wand and took a peak… "But… that's downstairs?"

"Yeah, you should really revise your understanding of the concept of security." Said Ron "I nicked that when we picked up the twins."

"So why did Ginny and the twins have to come with you?" said Mr Weasley.

"They didn't." said Hermione. "It just sort of happened."

"Ginny got caught up when Ron and Hermione went back for Scabbers." Said Harry. "The twins found us when we were sneaking around the school, after everything that happened in our time we couldn't just leave them ignorant."

"I remember." Said the younger Harry. "I… we… kissed Ginny on sight…"

Ginny suddenly blushed and both Harry's found themselves under a lot of attention.

"Harry." Said Dumbledore approaching the older variant. "In your time, did I… did I make your life…"

"You're human Professor." Said Harry "You made mistakes, but you did both me and the world a whole lot of good. You will forever have my thanks and if my next child is a boy he will be called Albus. My advice at this stage is, start to pass on your burdens. Start with him." He pointed at his younger self. "Voldemort is now dead, his remaining supporters will be hunted down and arrested for what they did, at least I think they will I gave Madam Bones the information but it is up to her to use it. Be there to give people advice but let them find their own way, be there to help people, but let them do it some things themselves. I want this me to have his life back to grow up without the pressures I had. Since there is no Voldemort and Sirius and Remus are here that should be easy."

Dumbledore nodded. "I will help should your knew guardians need me to. I take it you are not going back to your aunt and uncle?"

"No he's not." Said Sirius. "And Remus and I need to talk to you about that later Professor."

Dumbledore seemed uneasy at that prospect.

"Your time is coming to a close." Said the Mirror. "Please set your affairs in order."

Harry looked over everyone. "She's right, we really should be going, we don't belong here."

"Are you really ok with this?" said Ginny looking up at him.

"Yes, we have our life together in my time. But you and he are not old enough to have the life I do. Maybe one day." Said Harry. He then turned to his younger self. "I'm not going to tell you who to fall in love with."

"Yeah you are." Said the younger Harry.

"Just give Ginny a chance and don't even bother with…" Older Harry managed to stop himself.

"She who shall not be named?" The younger Harry smiled.

"Yeah her." Said Harry senior.

"Are you to talking about…" Before Ginny could say Cho Chang's name the older Harry put his hand over her mouth.

"She's in this room, no need to embarrass her." Said Harry. "No matter how… incompatible we were."

Ginny nodded, whilst blushing. Many students were now wondering who amongst them had failed to have a relationship with the Boy-Who-Lived.

"You also have someone on your blacklist." Said Ron to his younger self.

"I get it, I'm a jerk." Said the younger Ron.

"You're not." Said Ron. "You're just a little daft. Trust Hermione and trust Harry, they'll keep you right."

"You can trust us to." Said Fred.

"Yeah, we'll look after you." Said George.

"I'm not that daft." Said the younger Ron.

"We were never that daft." Said the older Ron. "But seriously, try to be more understanding and try not to be so condescending, it just makes things worse."

"And don't date… who I did date before Hermione." Said younger Ron.

"Just date Hermione and forget everyone else." Said older Ron. "When the time is right and when she's ready and you're ready."

Hermione looked down at herself in Remus' arms. "I know you were going to try and come here and be all perfect."

"I was wasn't I?" said younger Hermione.

"You had no friends and were so obsessed with following rules that you missed the bigger picture." Said older Hermione. "These boys are our boys. At least until we have a son. It is important to study, and you're going to have to remind them of that when the exams come around. But it is also important to have fun. Promise me you won't forget that."

"I promise." Said younger Hermione.

Hedwig landed on the older Harry's shoulder.

"I guess I'm saying goodbye to you again." Said Harry. "At least this time I don't think you'll be killed the way you were."

Suddenly the Mirror of Emit flared up. Hedwig spread her wings and began flapping just as light shot out and engulfed her. As the owl took off, it left behind an imprint in the magical light which formed into a perfect replica.

Older Harry felt his knees get rather weak. "Is… this…"

"The copying of a human cannot be allowed." Said the Mirror. "Nor can permanently relocating one out of their timeline. However an allowance can be granted in this case for your pet. You have done this realm a great service and this can be allowed."

Harry looked at the Hedwig that sat on his shoulder.

"Neither owl is technically a copy, one is just 2 seconds older." Said the Mirror.

Harry smiled, slight tears forming in his eyes. "Hey girl, are you coming home with me?"

Shoulder Hedwig gave a light affirmative screech. Her counterpart landed on Sirius' shoulder overlooking her master, the younger Harry.

"It is time." Came the voice from the Mirror. It began rotating at high speed then floated in front of the staff table. It dispersed out of existence and a dimensional gateway opened up in its place. Harry, Ron and Hermione now knew it was time.

Harry placed a hand on his younger self's cheek "Have a good life, it's yours now."

Ron passed his own body over to his father while Hermione picked up her baby. Ron then went over to the younger version of his wife while Hermione went over to the younger version of her husband.

"I… He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes." Ron said to the girl in Remus' arms. "But he means well and no matter how it may seem he cares what you think." He leant down and kissed her on the forehead.

Hermione looked up at him and saw the care in his eyes. "Ok. Goodbye."

Meanwhile Hermione looked down at Ron. "She hasn't had much fun in her life yet. Show her how to have a good time but please remember to study as well."

"I will." Said the younger Ron and Older Hermione kissed him on the cheek. "I don't know if I'm ready for you though." He said looking at Rose.

"You're only 11." Said Hermione. "Act like it, just not too much. I want you to have your first snog before you turn 16. Hermione teased Ron by lightly patted his cheek before walked over to the portal.

Harry had just spoken to his younger self when Ginny went over and kissed that younger self.

"Ron and Hermione are kissing there other halves' youngers." Said Ginny, while her mother looked down with a look that did not looked very impressed.

Harry on the other hand chuckled. He got down on his knee and pulled Ginny into a hug. "You are perfect and I love you for it." He whispered in her ear. For the last time he kissed his ten-ear-old wife on the forehead "Goodbye my love."

Ginny's eyes teared up. "I'll take care of him, and Sirius and Remus to, and Ronnie and Hermione and…"

"I know you will." Said Harry standing up. "Goodbye Sirius, Remus."

"Goodbye Harry." Said Sirius "I'm so proud to finally be able to fulfil my Godfatherly duties.

"And I'm so proud of what you've become." Said Remus. "We shall take care of you. I swear. We shall love you."

"We shall take our leave as soon as you go." Said James. "After all, we do not belong in this realm."

"We are so proud of you Harry." Said Lily. "And we are so proud of your brother and sister too."

James and Lily looked at Ron and Hermione. In many ways, those two were Harry's siblings.

Harry gave one last look to his younger self. "Enjoy yourself. All the crap we went through and what you now will never go through is over. It does not define who you are. Enjoy your life, you've earned it. Remember to remind him of that on occasion." He said that last part to Ginny.

"I will." She said

Harry, Ron and Hermione – the Golden Trio – stood together with Rose Weasley in Hermione's arms and Hedwig sitting atop Harry's shoulder. For one last time, they looked over all those who they loved in this time and particularly those who had died. Then they turned and walked into the portal that lead back to 2006. The last quest to destroy Voldemort was done.

Harry Ron and Hermione left the new timeline of hope that they created, whereupon many from then on would know of the legend of the Golden Trio.

* * *

><p>I can't believe it's over. It's only now occurring to me I just held a public execution in front of school Children. Oh well I'm not rewriting this now.<p>

Now to answer a question posed by many. I may come back and write either an epilogue or a successor story but I do not really want to think about it right now. What happens after this all happens for the best. If anyone wants to write a sequel in my place, PM me and we can negotiate terms. But right now, I want to focus on other projects. Actually I just want to focus on My Brother and Jessica Black but same thing.

Thanks for reading. By the power vested in me by… me… and this hairbrush I just picked up. I the Oracle of the Phoenix hereby declare this story finished. So mote it be (whatever that means).

Long Live Hedwig.


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